


Continuity, The Third

by Arctimon



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014), Big Hero 6: The Series (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:40:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 28,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22104973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arctimon/pseuds/Arctimon
Summary: Time to close out Season 2 with another batch of one-shots, all dedicated to the rest of the new episodes coming out. Probably multiple pairings, but let's face it. You're probably here for the Hiro/Karmi.  Don't worry, we'll sprinkle some more in as we go along. The final chapter, Character (with everyone!) is now up!
Relationships: Hiro Hamada & Karmi, Hiro Hamada/Karmi, Wasabi-No Ginger/Aspen Matthews
Comments: 22
Kudos: 48





	1. Let It Snow

_**Disclaimer:** Big Hero 6 is owned by Disney Animation. Here's to a happy new year and a fruitful 2020._

* * *

_**Chapter 1 – Let It Snow** _

_"Wow."_

There was definitely something great in telling a tale that seemed so mind-boggling that no one would believe it.

But the unbelievable was a normal occurrence for Hiro Hamada. And making the city of San Fransokyo snow was one of those occurrences.

Being gifted Tadashi's snow machine, losing it, getting it back, and making it work had taken a lot out of him. A lot of emotions had been put on the metaphorical table, but at the end of that day, he could put all of it aside and just enjoy the company of his family and friends.

...And smack Fred in the face with a giant snowball. That helped, too.

All of the memories had come rushing back to him as he scrolled through the photo album he had put together in his phone. All of the smiles (including Go Go's), all of the fun...it had been one special day.

Hiro had taken a sip from his evening hot chocolate when he had a thought.

A secret thought.

There was one other person that he could share that day with.

Providing she weren't asleep or anything.

" _That's...such an amazing story."  
_

And it turned out she wasn't.

Hiro had the laptop on his shins as he finished recalling the tale to said person on the screen. She had her head resting in her hands as she stared at him with bated breath. Even though she had only recently woken up, her brown eyes were transfixed on him. Her red scarf was around her neck, perhaps to get into the mood of his story.

" _I remember reading about that in the news when I was visiting my family overseas for Christmas, but it didn't register with me until you started talking about it just now. That was you?"  
_

"Yeah," Hiro answered. "Well...Tadashi, really. I didn't really do much of anything."

" _But still. It had to be awesome to have snow, if just for one day. You're so lucky."  
_

"I would have never thought I would see the day you would be jealous of me, Karmi."

She titled her head at him, a couple of strands of long hair falling over her eye. _"Don't get used to it, Genius Boy."_

That dang smile got him every time, even though it was seventy-six hundred miles away. He liked the way it looked; he wished it could be right next to him instead of on a screen.

But that's another story for another time.

" _So where is the machine now? Keeping it ready for a snow day off of school?"  
_

"Nah, Aunt Cass would probably sniff that out," Hiro replied. "It's...somewhere."

Karmi stared at him incredulously. _"You_ _ **lost**_ _it?"  
_

"No, I didn't lose it. I just put it away for safekeeping. It turns out the changing the barometric pressure of the atmosphere tends to short-circuit very small and intricate tech. I fixed it, but...I want to keep it for the future. Sometimes you _can_ have too much of a good thing.

" _I guess."_ Karmi pulled her scarf a little tighter around her neck. _"Wonder if your brother made one for warm weather. I could sure use it right-"_

All of a sudden, Hiro heard a loud noise come from the side of the screen. Karmi instinctively turned to her left to face whatever was coming. Whoever it was seemed to surprise her, as she slightly recoiled in her seat.

A second person came into view. It was a much older woman with a pair of glasses on her face. The dark brown hair, glasses, and white headscarf made it very clear who it was: Karmi's grandmother. Hiro had never seen her before, and Karmi had only mentioned her a couple of times in passing. Karmi had clearly muted her microphone, because her mouth was moving but no sound was coming out. It looked like they were having an animated conversation, the woman motioning her arms around.

About a minute passed before Karmi remembered that he was still on the call. She hit a button on her computer, mumbled a few words and pointed at the screen, and the old woman glanced down to see Hiro blinking back at her. He nervously waved and said one of the few words that she had taught him in Urdu. "Umm... _salam_."

This got her very excited, because she rattled off a bunch of sentences that he had no hope of understanding. He desperately turned to Karmi, who got the hint. She butted into the one-sided conversation with her and started rambling in Urdu.

To her credit, her grandmother stood there and nodded to whatever she was saying. After Karmi was finished, the woman leaned into the camera to eye Hiro a second time.

" _And you are teaching him?"_

" _Umm...yeah,"_ Karmi replied, absentmindedly scratching at her neck. _"Just a little bit."_

"She's a good teacher, ma'am." Hiro felt like he had to cut in. "She's very patient with me. Much more than I probably deserve."

The old woman chuckled, the lines in her mouth growing more distinctive. _"You are very thin. Do you get fed enough over there?"_

"I do, yes. But I'm young. Still have a lot of growing to do."

She stepped back to allow Karmi to come back into view. _"I must be going. It was good to meet you."_

Hiro decided to take a chance on another phrase. He only hoped he would get it right this time. "A _p ka din acha guzrae."_

Karmi's grandmother widened her eyes for a moment, and her smile got bigger. She bent down to Karmi and muttered a few words in her ear, kissing the top of her head at the end. Karmi's head ducked further into the folds of her scarf, her cheeks now matching the color of it.

As she walked off-screen, Hiro leaned forward. "Wait, what did she say?"

Karmi's eyes came back to the camera.

"What did she say, Karmi?"

Her mouth came back into view, her neck burning red. _"She...um. She said that I should stop everything I'm doing and take your hand in marriage immediately."_

Hiro's face started getting hot. "Well, it would be hard for me to do that, since you're so far away."

Karmi glared at him.

"Sorry."

" _Trust me, if she could still drive, she'd take me to the airport right now. But she's just joking. I think."  
_

An awkward moment passed, Karmi still staring toward her door. Hiro wasn't quite sure what to say. Maybe it was because of the embarrassment. Or the impromptu conversation with her elder. Or the possibility of finding himself engaged at the ripe old age of fourteen.

Or maybe all of it.

" _Anyway, what were we talking about?"  
_

Thank God Karmi came in with the save. "Snow. We were talking about snow."

" _Oh yeah, right."_ Karmi turned back to him. _"You're lucky. I've never seen snow before."_

"Wait, really? I thought you get snow where you are."

She arched her hand over her head. _"In the upper edges of the country where there are mountains, yes. Not so much in my neck of the woods. So between here and San Fransokyo, I've never experienced it."  
_

"Well, maybe you will."

" _Yeah, now that you have a snow machine. I'm totally going to make you use that for me."_

Hiro rolled his eyes. "Is that all I am to you? A genius that you can use to cater to your every whim?"

" _Yes. Took you long enough to catch on."_

He took a moment to take a look at the time. Karmi must have noticed him, because she spoke up again. _"You look like you're plotting something. Are you plotting something?"_

"No."

" _And that's exactly what someone plotting something would say."_

"Karmi, I swear to you that I'm not plotting anything. You know me. I could never get anything past you. You're too smart for me."

She stared at him, the end of her scarf now around her hand. _"And now you're buttering me up. Yeah, you're definitely-"_

Karmi stopped mid-sentence, now looking off to her right. Hiro knew from past calls that there was a window overlooking the front yard. Maybe something outside caught her attention.

" _Karmi?"  
_

She got up from her chair and walked out of view, her gaze still on the window. About five seconds went by without Karmi uttering any sort of response. Hiro was just about to shout out again when her hand came across the screen and pulled the laptop toward the window.

From his vantage point, he couldn't see the street below, but he _could_ see the nearby tree poking out in the frame.

And its branches were starting to get covered in-

" _Hiro."_

The computer turned to bring Karmi's face back into frame. They stared into each other's eyes as hers started to glisten in the morning light.

" _What did you do?"_ she whispered.

"I don't know what you're-"

" _If you complete that sentence, I will kill you."_

Even though she had never carried out that threat before, it sure sounded serious now. Hiro's lips slammed shut.

" _I'm going to ask you again. And don't insult my intelligence this time."_ Karmi leaned in even further. _"What. Did. You. Do?"_

Hiro took a deep breath in through his nose. He was just about to open his mouth when a sudden loud crash came back from the direction of the door.

And a pair of arms came into view to pull Karmi's body toward them.

Her grandmother had made a reappearance, yelling several things in a flurry of Urdu. She sounded very excited, much more than she had been just a few minutes ago. She pointed out the window and continued to yell as the right side of Karmi's face continued to stare at Hiro.

After what seemed like an eternity, her grandmother let go and walked off, excitement still in her voice. Karmi rubbed the side of her face, an imprint of the embroidery from her relative's shirt on her cheek.

"Let's say, hypothetically..."

Her eyes went back to him.

"Hypothetically, there's a certain superhero that wanted to work on a better transportation system for one of their team members, specifically the one someone named after a bear. And after helping with said construction, they wanted to test it out by making an intercontinental trip. As an added incentive, they could make a visit over to...somewhere...where they could bring a little precipitation to a region that's never experienced it before."

She did not blink. Not even once.

"This is all, of course, hypothetical. There's no way that...specific situation could ever occur."

The two geniuses sat in silence, their gaze not breaking. From the corner of his eye, he could see the accumulation of snow on the branch outside. It must've gotten to almost an inch by now.

" _You don't understand what you've done."_

Hiro smiled softly. "I think I do, Karmi. You wanted to see the snow. I made that happen."

" _No."_

He saw that her arms were crossed, her hands shaking on her biceps. _"You really don't understand."_

"Then explain it to me. Make me understand."

Karmi's eyes were starting to water as she stared down at the keyboard. The window behind her was starting to frost up, obscuring his vision of the outside, but now all he was focused on was her.

" _You remember what I said earlier? About the mountainous regions that get snow?"  
_

"Yeah."

" _...That's where my grandparents met."_

Hiro's eyes widened.

" _That's where they got married. That's where they raised my mom. That's where my parents lived before they moved to America and had me. The last time my grandmother saw snow was...was the last year my grandfather was alive."_

His hand landed on the laptop, the tips of his fingers running over the keys.

" _Every winter, my grandfather would rent a horse-drawn carriage and they would ride around the city as the snow fell. It was their tradition. They did that for almost fifty years. And then he got sick and couldn't do it any more."_

Karmi looked out the window.

" _My grandmother has entire albums of pictures over the years. I've looked over all of them; they're so beautiful. I could see the excitement in her face every single time. The snow reminds her of him."_

Her voice went down to a whisper.

" _This is the first time since my grandfather's passing that I've seen her this happy. This animated. I don't even know what my parents are thinking right now."_

The brown eyes went back to him.

" _And it's all because of you."_

Hiro found his voice again. "Karmi, I...I didn't know."

" _Now you do. And I know you were just trying to do something nice for me, but you've done so much more than that."_

Karmi clenched her fist and held it over her chest.

" _If I wasn't so far away, I would kiss you right now."_

Hold up. Did he hear her correctly? "W-weren't you just threatening to murder me like five minutes ago?"

" _Would you rather me do that?_

"No."

" _Then shut up."_

A muffled voice came into the room, and Karmi turned to answer it. _"I'm coming! Give me a minute!"_ She brought her attention back to Hiro. _"I have to go. My grandmother wants to take me outside and show me her patented killer snowball technique. I don't know if I even have gloves. I have to go find some."  
_

"Then I guess I'll talk to you later," Hiro said. "Have fun."

" _Genius Boy."_

Karmi was still in frame, tightening her scarf around her neck, but she was out of her chair and walking around the room. She peered into her dresser and pulled out one of her trademark sweaters, pulling it over her shirt. Satisfied with her attire, she came back over to the computer and leaned down.

" _Tell Captain Cutie and Red Panda thank you for me."_

"I will."

" _And thank **you** , Hiro...for being the best friend that a girl can ask for."_

The camera on her computer suddenly went out of focus as her face crept closer. Her lips hit the lens, plunging her screen into total darkness. After a second, she pulled back, the only thing on screen was her wide smile. The picture then cut out, the call ended.

And Hiro only found out when he himself looked down...his own lips on his own camera.

"Yeah," he muttered, closing his laptop softly. "Friend."

He then grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled it out a couple of times. He wasn't aware of how much he had been sweating. Was it because of Karmi? The situation?

Both?

"Is it hot in here, or is it just me?"

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Because I clearly did not learn the first two times I did this. :P

I had to think about where I wanted to put this in my so-called "fan verse". I have suspicions that "The Present" is just a special episode and wasn't meant to fall into any particular point, so that's what I'm treating it as here: a Christmas episode, but with a flash-forward to where we are now.

Also, I hope that I've translated the Urdu properly. I'm still learning on how the exact translation is done.

Now that there is a proper release schedule for the rest of the season and not a bomb release, even with everything that's happening personally, I feel like I can do a good job in getting these stories out. So, I hope everyone will enjoy the third installment of **Continuity**. Let's see what happens.

Read and review, if you like. Until next time.


	2. Anti-Hiro

_**Disclaimer:** Big Hero 6 is owned by Disney Animation. All technology in this episode is owned by Krei Tech._

* * *

_**Chapter 2 - Anti-Hiro** _

Such strange people, these police officers were.

The woman peered down from the rooftop to look at the entrance to the police station. Even at this time of night, people went in and out on a consistent basis. Some were getting off their duties, no doubt. Others were just starting their very long overnight shift, mugs of coffee in their hands. She could even see a half-eaten box of donuts through the window.

Stereotypes. You have to love them.

In a way, she appreciated those officers. They made her job a lot more interesting. What would be the joy of getting away with things if there was no one around to try to stop you?

Not that _they_ ever did. It was those Big Hero 6 brats that were giving her the hardest time lately. Especially that Hamada kid…

Momakase shook her head, breaking her gaze from the station. It wasn't enough that she had spent a lot of time with him over the past two days. She had to think about him now, of all times.

It was just as well; she had enough of surveying the building. It was time to head to her hideout for the night, and get a fresh start in the morning. Maybe one that didn't involve Big Hero 6.

The woman took the jump over to the next building effortlessly. It had been quite a long time since she had been given a challenge. Normally, she could pick and choose whatever she wanted, and she would just get it. But now...

Well, she could still get whatever she wanted. It just took a little more effort these days. Especially with-

SNAP!

The sound of something metallic latching onto her arm took her out of her thoughts. Looking down at her wrist, she saw a thin, purple ring around it, the innards softly glowing blue.

"Hmm." She tried to wrench it off to no avail. "This is a fashion accessory I do not particularly care for."

The sound of three more metal circles snapping onto her appendages came right after that.

"What in the-"

All of a sudden, she felt her body getting lifted off of the ground and toward the nearest billboard. In a flash, her arms wrapped behind her back around one of the supports, the two metal bracelets magnetized together. The two on her feet latched on near the floor.

"How interesting."

A large ring came out of nowhere and went around her waist and the support, completing her ensnarement.

"Someone has taken all of the necessary precautions to ensure that I do not get away. Clever." Momakase strained her arm, reaching for one of her pocket knives. "Too bad they didn't think ahead."

"Don't even bother."

The woman looked up to see another person on the roof. The familiar purple hood, googles, and gloves were a dead giveaway. The mystery guest pulled down their hood to reveal the messy bush of black hair and brown eyes piercing at her.

"I laced them with reinforced titanium. You couldn't cut it even if you wanted to."

Momakase couldn't help but smile. "You do fast work. I'm quite impressed."

Hiro squinted at her, his mind going back to his last rooftop encounter with a mercenary. "Well, I've had practice with this sort of thing. I had to be prepared."

"Are you seeing other people on the side, boy?"

"I'm not in the mood, Momakase." Hiro held up his hand, the palm glowing with energy.

"Awww, are you still mad that I forced you to work with me? Or because you had to lie to your dear friends about it?"

"Neither. I'm over all of that. My friends understood why I did what I did."

"Then this fancy get-up is for..."

Hiro adjusted the goggles on his neck, his frown not wavering. "I want to ask you about something."

"My dear boy, you could have just sent a post like a normal person."

Ignoring her comment, the boy genius completed the walk up to her and stared at her face. "You told me that if I didn't help you, you would tell Chief Cruz our secret identities."

Momakase leaned her head to the side. "Yes, I did."

"...What stopped you?"

"Beg your pardon?"

Hiro clenched his fist, the restraints around Momakase going even tighter. "At any point...at any time...you could have gone to the police. You could have given us up straight away. But you didn't. You could have been done with us, and you would have been free to do whatever you want. Why?"

The woman went quiet for a moment, trying to disguise the fact that she had gotten ahold of her knife. Unluckily for her, Hiro wasn't having it. Energy waves came from his glove, magnetically latching onto the blade and launching it into his hand.

"I told you I wasn't in the mood, Momakase," he said as he lowered the knife to his side. "I want an answer."

Momakase smiled at him. "Yes, you do...but I'm not quite sure it's the answer you want. Nevertheless..." She shifted slightly in her binds. She definitely wasn't going to get out of them; there wasn't enough slack in the metal rings. "I suppose I've grown quite fond of your team. Keeps my life exciting, don't you think? I haven't had to work this hard since I started out in the business."

Hiro continued to look at her, saying nothing.

"I remember when I was but a young woman starting out on my first heist." Momakase's head tilted back, trying to reminisce on the details. "It was simple enough. I was stealing jewelry from a museum. I managed to get in by sheer dumb luck, but then I was caught by none other than Boss Awesome. I was so awestruck by him that I didn't even put up a fight. I told myself from that day forward, I would be a better villain. One that that old man would respect."

"So that's why he had a file on you," Hiro muttered.

"He did? I'm flattered. Glad to know that I left an impression on him."

"You still haven't really answered my question."

Momakase leaned forward a bit, her face close to Hiro's. "My dear boy, an important part of being a thief is this. Never, _ever_ be the center of attention. If the spotlight hits you, you're in the wrong profession. Whether it's that fool Obake, that crazy woman Liv Amara, or Chief Cruz...I let those people take the attention away from me."

Hiro's eyebrows piqued, one of the names she said gathering his attention. "Wait. _That's_ why Liv knew who it was me. You told her."

She nodded.

His ears started to burn, his anger threatening to boil over.

"How _is_ your friend doing, by the way? The scientist girl?"

"Don't you dare." Hiro pointed at her, his face red. "Don't act like you care."

"Ahh, but I do." Momakase was no longer smiling. "I willingly accepted my enhancements, as well as everyone else in Liv's employ. But that girl...she didn't deserve that. She was merely a child in the wrong place at the wrong time. I actually tried to talk Liv out of putting the chip in her, but she wasn't having any of it."

"You were perfectly fine with kidnapping her and putting her on Akuma Island to lure us out."

"Yes, and you saved her. Everything worked out in the end. Like I said, I was merely carrying out an order for a higher power. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride."

Hiro was mad now. It wasn't just because Momakase wasn't making any sense; it was because she was talking about Karmi like she was nothing. Like she was just some thing to exploit. Which...Karmi had been at that point, but the truth didn't make him feel any better.

"For the record," he said, trying to keep his voice steady. "She's fine. She got cured. No thanks to you."

The smile returned to the mercenary's face. "I'm glad to hear that. Truly."

The two went quiet, Hiro's eyes still glaring at her and Momakase's attention going to a plane flying overhead. It wasn't until about a minute later that Hiro spoke up.

"Doesn't it bother you?"

"You'll have to be more specific," she replied, her eyes still upward.

"Ruining people's lives. Only looking out for yourself. Not caring about anyone. Must be a great life you have," he spat out.

"Oh, Hiro Hamada..."

Hiro stiffened up at the mention of his name.

"You don't know a single thing about me. I don't blame you, really. But that's the life for one such as myself."

"I know that you had a family."

Momakase stopped, looking back at Hiro.

"You had people who cared about you. And you cared about them." Hiro took a step back. "I saw the way you looked at those swords. It was like you were desperately trying to hang onto something. A memory."

"My dear boy, you should really leave the psychoanalysis for someone else. Perhaps your speedster. You don't really have the tone for it."

He took a breath in. "I have one last question."

"I suppose I could entertain you one last time. It's not as if I'm going anywhere."

"What happened to them?"

"Hm?"

"To your family."

Momakase then did something that even took Hiro by surprise: her eyes went to the ground, a hint of sadness in them, and said absolutely nothing. No retort. No witty comeback. No light joke about the predicament. Nothing.

Hiro blinked once. "They're not around, are they? They're-"

"Oh, they're not dead," she mumbled. "I just imagine that I'm dead to _them_."

Her voice was so devoid of sound that he barely caught the tail end of her sentence. He didn't have any time to dwell on it, though; her gaze was back at him. "Is this what you wanted, Hiro Hamada? Some sort of revelation that you will use later to try to turn me to the path of righteousness?"

"I..."

"Let me tell you something, Hiro Hamada." Her green eyes blinked as she stared at him. "Not everyone is meant to be understood. Not everyone is meant to be saved. Sometimes, what you see is what you get. All I am is a thief. A villain. That's all who I will ever be."

Hiro recoiled. This was more than he was expecting. She seemed to be genuine in her remarks. The sadness in her voice was startling. He had never heard her sound like that.

"I don't believe that."

Momakase raised her eyebrow at him.

"I may not have been doing the hero thing longer than you've been doing the villain thing, but I've seen a lot in these past several months. There's more to people than just the surface. Even you guys. I hated Obake more than anything. But there was more to even him than he was letting on. I don't condone anything that he did, but...I understood him."

Hiro sighed. "Liv's clone was trying to save her from a disease she injected willingly. Going that far for the sake of science and discovery...in some other universe, I would understand. Again, none of it justifies the means, but it makes sense."

"And Chief Cruz?"

"To be honest...I don't know what his deal is. He's never given any indication as to why he hates us. But I'm going to find out. And I'm going to make him understand."

"How hopelessly naive of you. You're just like his daughter."

"You're wrong, Momakase. I'll show you just how-"

Wait. Hold on.

Hiro stopped himself. Something that she had said made his brain take a mental step back. The mercenary must have noticed as well, because her eyes widened at his expression.

"Something the matter, Hiro Hamada?"

"...How do you know he has a daughter?"

Momakase blinked.

Hiro blinked.

The seagull on the roof blinked.

Both humans turned to see the bird staring back at them. After a moment, apparently bored of the silence, it flew off into the night. The aviary distraction now behind them, Hiro's attention went back to the woman in front of him.

"He's only been in the city for a little while. He hasn't been around that long. So how on Earth do you know that he has a daughter?"

Momakase opened her mouth, but no words came out.

"You know him. From something that happened before."

She didn't look at him.

"Do you know his daughter, too? Do you know Megan?"

OK, now she _really_ wasn't looking at him.

"You know both of them, don't you?"

The only sound now was the air whistling through the slats of the billboard she was stuck to. He could cut the air with a knife...and he still had hers in his hand if he wanted to.

"Well." She finally spoke up. "This has been quite the entertaining chat, but alas, I do have to get going. The early bird gets the painting, as they say."

"The worm," Hiro said. "It's the worm."

"Not in my profession, it's not."

He sighed, then raised his arms. His gloves started glowing again, and the restraints unclipped and returned to around his glove, snapping back into circles.

"Interesting little contraptions you got there," Momakase said, rubbing her wrists. "I don't suppose you could let me have some of those. Would make my job a lot-"

She realized that she was talking to an empty rooftop; the boy genius had already departed, leaving no trace of his presence.

"...Easier..."

Momakase saw the knife the boy had taken away was stuck to the roof, right where he was standing. She stepped forward and grabbed it by the handle, twirling it a bit before putting it back in its sheath.

"If you can still hear me, boy," she yelled out as she jumped to the edge of the roof, "Send that girl my regards. I meant what I said about her, regardless of whether you believe me or not. She is a lucky girl...to have someone like you on her side."

With that, she flipped off of the roof and out of sight. Content that she was actually gone, Hiro took off his goggles and turned off his invisibility, standing on the air conditioning unit in the corner. All he could do was stare at the place she had jumped, his head swimming with a whole new list of thoughts that he didn't have before.

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:** My apologies for the lateness of this upload; I had a hard time writing and thinking of ideas. But better late than never, I guess.

For those of you who follow me on DevArt, I had a theory that I made before the new episodes started airing that there was something more to Momakase than she (and the showrunners) were letting on. I laid out the theory that Momakase was actually Megan's mom, driven away from her and Chief Cruz by her villainy and possibly other forces.

Now, it was just a theory, and it appears that will not be the case in the show. But what fun is that if I don't play up that angle a little bit? Besides, Momakase can possibly still know them from earlier in her career. Megan just doesn't have to be the link between them. And for the record, I think that she _is_ hiding something about her family. What it is exactly I don't know. Maybe that'll get revisited in Season 3.

The latest episode will have already aired by the time this goes up, and luckily I already have a good idea. It involves Hiro and Megan and the struggles of secret keeping. And just to be on the sadistic side, we're going to have "KHeartsQT" show up.

And yes...the quotes are important.

Read and review, if you like. Until next time, everyone.


	3. Frenemies

_**Disclaimer:** Big Hero 6 is owned by Disney Animation. Insert witty second sentence to accompany the rest of the disclaimer here._

* * *

_**Chapter 3 – Frenemies** _

" _Hiro, you did not brush your teeth for the recommended two minutes."_

"I'll just add on thirty seconds in the morning. Don't get so bent out of shape about it."

" _My shape is round. It cannot bend."_

"It's...just a figure of speech. Don't worry about it."

It was bedtime in the Hamada household, and Hiro was busy having an argument about the length of his brushing session with Baymax. It wasn't a _real_ argument (Baymax was right based off of scientific studies), but it was a fun little thing to do with him most nights.

It was one of the few things that didn't seem to stress him out anymore.

Hiro set the toothbrush down on the sink, his mind wandering. Two days ago, Megan Cruz had deduced his identity as a member of Big Hero 6 and confronted him in the garage about it. She had threatened to go to her father and divulge their secret, but thankfully Hiro was able to convince her to come and see their base. What followed was a whirlwind of events that included flying Megan around San Fransokyo, getting caught up in a chase around the city involving the newest villain in town Sirque, and almost getting caught by Chief Cruz. Again.

And Hiro had been expecting the worse when they left Megan in that alleyway. She knew their secret, and it was up to her to decide whether she wanted to keep it or not. But the next day, her school article came out...and it was in their favor. Their secret was safe.

For now.

That _should_ have made him feel better. But all it did was give him more anxiety. And that was the last thing he needed right now.

" _Hiro, you seem distressed."  
_

"Yeah, tell me about it."

" _It all began when you started attending Tadashi's college-"  
_

"It was rhetorical, Baymax."

Baymax walked over to his charger and stepped in. _"You are worried about Megan."_

"Yeah, I am." Hiro got into bed and pulled the cover over his body. "Chief Cruz is probably not going to like the fact that her own daughter is on our side. That's only going to cause him to double his efforts in getting us. We have to be _really_ careful from now on. One slip-up and we could all be in serious trouble."

Baymax held up a finger. _"Perhaps we could all have invisibility added to our armors. That way, we could be undetectable from the human eyes."  
_

"And then run into each other while we're fighting crime? Yeah, that's not a good idea." Hiro pushed his hands into his pillow, trying to fluff it up. "Too bad I can't just use webslingers like S.P.I.D.E.R. can. We could all just swing away as fast as we could."

" _Should I attempt to contact Peni to help with our problem?"  
_

Hiro looked at the clock. "I'll talk to her in the morning. She's probably asleep right now." He started to close his eyes. "Megan probably is too. Unless she's working on writing another story or some-"

His eyes snapped open.

"Oh, crap! I completely forgot."

Baymax's optical scanners blinked.

"I haven't logged into Karmi's profile in weeks." Hiro vaulted out of bed to grab his laptop. "She's probably gotten so many messages. I'm not doing a very good job at curating it."

" _I am sure Karmi would understand. You are only human, after all."_

Hiro's screen came on and he opened an internet window. "I'll just take a gander at it now, and do a more thorough clean-up in the morning. You should probably get some shut-eye, Baymax; I won't be far behind you."

" _Be sure to get the proper allocation of sleep. Good night."_

As his robot powered down, Hiro logged in to Karmi's fanfiction profile. He had promised her that while she was overseas and working on her internet problems, he would take care of it. But with everything that had been happening, the thought of even going to the site had been removed from his mind.

The violently pink wallpaper loaded onto his computer. His eyes, as always, wandered over to her profile and the last thing she updated it with:

_Hey there, Captain Cutie/Lab Lady fans! Due to circumstances beyond my control, I will not be able to update any of my stories for the foreseeable future. I'll still be working on things, but uploading will be an impossibility. If you wish to contact me, I have someone looking over my inbox, but responses may be slow. Stay strong, CCLL Army!_

Several feelings started to course through Hiro's brain. Disgust for the pet name she gave her followers. Amusement for the same thing. Guilt for not doing the one thing he had promised.

Sadness because of the whole situation.

He had to push them away. If he held on to them any longer, he'd never get to sleep.

He saw that her inbox has several unread messages, and despite his statement to Baymax, he started to sort through them, starting with the oldest. Most of them were just words of encouragement ( _"I love your stories! Hope to hear from you soon!"_ ), but there were a few other ones, like a request to co-author a story, questions about Captain Cutie's dietary limitations, and the same person that kept making new accounts just to bother her.

Hiro sighed as he quickly sent an e-mail with his information off to the moderators of the site. Maybe this time he would actually stay banned.

He knew that outside of his friends and her family, only a few select people knew about the real reason of her not being available to her adoring fans. Her name had been kept out of the news when Di Amara and Sycorax were busted, which was a very good thing; it wasn't like Karmi was a very common name, and someone could possibly put two and two together.

Thankfully, it didn't seem like any of her followers had figured it out, at least as far as her messages were concerned.

Hiro got to the last e-mail in her inbox. As soon as the next page loaded, he took a closer look. It appeared that it was several messages sent on different days; the date on the oldest one was from almost three weeks ago. And it was from someone named-

"ChiefM'gann."

He recognized the screen name from one of the reviews left on the story he had proofread for Karmi when she stayed over his house, as well as a few of the other stories. "I wonder what she sent all of these messages for?" he wondered out loud.

He took a look at the first message:

_Hey there, Karmi! Sorry I haven't been around for a while. I've been suuuuper busy with school and this secret thing that I've been working on! Just say your profile update. That totally stinks! But I know you'll be back and rocking the stories before long! Hope everything's well!_

That was weird. Not the message, of course (it was very nice), but if that's all this person was going to say, then why were there were so many other messages after it?

The next one was a week later:

_Quick question: have you had any thoughts about what I said to you earlier? I think your insight would be invaluable to what I'm working on. Let me know as soon as you can._

Man, this person was very impatient. Did they not read the entirety of her profile? She was overseas, for goodness sake. He quickly scrolled up to see what they had been referencing, but the amount of messages dating back that were read was staggering. No matter; maybe they'd reference it later.

Now, he was much closer to the present. This message was from five days ago:

_Please. Message me back. We have to talk.  
_

OK, the shift in tone was immediate. What in the world was going on? Whoever this person was, they were all over the place. What did they want with-

_Karmi. I know who you are._

Hiro's finger paused right above the mousepad.

_And I can't keep lying to you anymore._

Oh boy. This looked like something he wasn't suppose to be looking at. Hiro grabbed his phone to send Karmi a text...and then his eyes traveled to the next sentence.

_My full name is Megan Cruz._

His phone, now forgotten, slipped out of his hand and hit the mattress.

_My father is the chief of police in San Fransokyo, and he wants to get rid of Big Hero 6. And I've been helping him do that._

Hiro leaned forward, his gaze transfixed on the diatribe that followed.

_Ever since I got to this city, I've been working on an article for my school newspaper. It was about Big Hero 6, but I wanted to take it in a different direction. I wanted to find out who those superheroes were. It was partly because of my dad, but also because I felt like the public had an obligation to know their identities too. So I did a lot of research. Went to interview a lot of people. Dig a lot of digging. And that's when I found out about you. About what Sycorax did to you._

At any other time, Hiro would almost be impressed by Megan's tenacity. But right now, the only thing he was feeling was anger.

_I can't imagine what it was like to be used by someone like that. To get turned into a monster. I'm so sorry about what happened. If it's any consolation, I deleted all of the info I found about the incident. It wasn't my information to know._

Hiro narrowed his eyes. It did seem like Megan was legitimately sorry about it. But something was still nagging at him, though. Why did she not mention any of this to him?

_And on top of all of the guilt I have about that, I now have a new problem. It's with my friend. And it's someone you know. His name is Hiro Hamada._

Oh. _That_ was why.

_Hiro is one of a few people who I was going to interview because of his closeness to Big Hero 6. I also know that you're friends with him, as well as one of the only persons who was with you when the police raided Sycorax. I thought he could offer some insight into them, into who they were. But I think he's keeping a secret from me. He's hiding something. And I'm scares me._

The boy genius looked at the date. It was right before she had gone to his garage to confront him. Her tone had been confrontational then, but it looked like she had some real struggles with what to do.

_I like Hiro. He's a good guy, and a good friend. We've gotten to know each other over the time I've been here, and while my eyes sometimes glaze over when he's talking to me about science, I feel like I've known him all my life. Which is why I'm so torn right now._

His heart started to beat faster.

_Karmi, he knows something. He knows something about Big Hero 6. Something big. But the journalist in me is conflicting with our friendship. And I don't know which way to go. And so, I wanted to ask you something. I have no right to ask, but I figure I would do it anyway._

Hiro's face lit up with the screen, the next question already in his view.

_What should I do?_

He didn't know. He didn't know any of this. She was really agonizing over this decision. When she had shown up at his house, she seemed like her normal, nosy, standoff-ish self. But this...this brought things a bit more into prospective.

_Judging by how you haven't responded to me for the past three weeks, I can already tell you're not going to answer. I understand completely. I'm going to send this off, and then just make myself scarce. It's been great reading your stories, and I will continue to do so, but I won't contact you again. You deserve some privacy._

_Anyway, hope everything works out for you. I guess I'll just end with this._

_Goodbye._

It was signed with her name, but Hiro couldn't see that; his eyes were watering, but he quickly brought his arm up to wipe the tears away.

This made _so_ much sense. All of this time, he had thought that Megan was the enemy. But reading her article, and seeing this exchange...it put her in a different light altogether. He had come to see her as someone relentless in her passion, and that went both in the good and bad direction. But maybe he understood her a little better now.

But now, just like Megan in her message, he had a new problem. This chain was very clearly not meant to be read by him, but he couldn't unsee it. And with Karmi being limited in her responses, his brain was coming up with a terrible idea.

He would have to be Karmi. Just this once.

"Well," Hiro said to himself, cracking his knuckles, "She says that I have the body structure of a teenage girl. I just have to transfer that to my fingers."

He set his hands on the home keys, ready to type out a response...when the website auto-logged him out for inactivity.

"Great. Wonderful."

Hiro typed in her username and password, but was swiftly rebuked by the window. "Come on. I'm putting it in right and everything." He brought his phone up to his face, checking the Note where he held Karmi's profile information. "Yeah, that's right. What is going on?"

He put it in one final time, and even checked the box to tell the website he wasn't a robot ("The robot's in front of me, not here"), and it finally relented. He quickly went back to her inbox to see everything was exactly as it was.

_Hi there, Megan._

Except for the brand new message that was marked with the word "now" at the top right corner.

Which wasn't his.

He would later find out that Karmi logging in had automatically logged him out of her profile and not the inactivity. Never mind the fact that he didn't even _know_ that she was able to log in; she had always given him the impression that she couldn't because of her internet problems.

But enough about the future. We're dealing with the present.

_Sorry that I haven't been able to respond to you. I've been very busy with personal stuff, and unfortunately my stories had to be put on the back burner. I appreciate you reaching out to me._

Karmi sounded very subdued. No emoji, no winky-faces or anything like that.

_To be honest, I don't even know where to begin with everything you've sent me. So, I guess I'll just start at the beginning._

Hiro's index finger moved over the pad, slowly scrolling down the entirety of the gargantuan message.

_You had no right to that information about me. I don't know what sort of connections you have, but there's a very good reason as to why my name hasn't been in the press. One, it's because I'm underage. Two, I would get harassed to no end. Three, my parents are currently in litigation with Sycorax, and if they had their way, they would burn everything into the ground for what they did to me. If the case goes the way they think it will, I won't have to worry about much of anything for the rest of my life. But it's not about the money. It's about the people behind what happened not being able to do what they did to anyone else ever again._

This was a surprise; he knew that both of Karmi's parents were both lawyers. She had mentioned it when she stayed over his house, but he didn't know that they were suing the company. That fact put a little twinge of happiness in his heart. If anyone deserved to see Sycorax go down, it was Karmi.

_I'm glad that you apologized and realized what you did was wrong. I guess I have no choice but to ask you to keep it to yourself, at least until the court case is over. I think it will be over soon, but it may require my parents' actual attendance in San Fransokyo, which they're not currently in a position to do right now._

Wait, hold on. Did that mean that they might come back to the city soon? Maybe he would be able to-

_But I don't want to talk about that anymore. I want to talk about Genius Boy._

Uh oh.

_Megan, I've learned over the course of the past year that Hiro is a very frustrating person. He annoys me to no end, is a pain in my butt, and thinks he's full of himself because of his giant encyclopedic mind._

"That's...all fair."

_But I've also learned that he's kind, comforting, and a true friend who will always have your back when you need it. And yes, we both have interacted with Big Hero 6. We've been lucky to be part of the select few that have. But Megan, if he has a secret that's connected with Big Hero 6, and he hasn't told you about it, there's probably a very good reason why._

Yes, there _was_ a very good reason why. One that Megan had figured out by the present time, and one that Hiro wasn't too keen to tell Karmi.

_We all have our secrets, Megan. You have yours, I have mine, and Hiro has his. We all do. I don't pressure him to tell me what he knows. I just sort of live with it. Yeah, it's kind of bothersome that he's talked to Captain Cutie more than me, especially being his future bride and all..._

The ambiguity of the "his" caused Hiro's face to heat up.

_But I live with it. If he has a secret, it's his prerogative to keep it. And if he wants to share that with me, then he'll do that. There are things that I've never told him. Things that are very difficult to talk about. But that's MY right. When I'm ready to open up, I will. If you have secrets, I wouldn't want to know them unless you wanted to tell me willingly._

This was not right. He should not be reading this. Any second now, Karmi was going to send him a GIF of a wrestler drop-kicking another person, and he would get the message instantly.

_I could talk about this all day, but I don't want to waste what little time I have looking over my messages, but I'll just leave with this._

The alarm on his phone told him it was time for bed, but he was too transfixed at the messages to pay attention to it.

_If you want to keep going for this article about Big Hero 6, that's your right. If you want to interview/interrogate Hiro, that is also your right. But you should be doing this article because YOU want to, and not your dad. And above all, if you DO find out Hiro's secret, assuming he has one, it had better be worth it. It took a long time for me to become Hiro's friend, and I treasure it every day. I don't want to lose it._

Hiro's eyes had started watering again. He could feel the tears running down his cheeks.

_And I would hate for you to lose something special like that._

A couple of the drops hit his keyboard. He was almost at the end now.

_Megan, I don't want you to block yourself off from me. I am here (sort of) if you want to talk. But I think there's a better person for that than me. Someone a little more closer in distance. He's a good listener, as long as you can get past his ego. And his hair._

Hiro gently set his hand on top of his head. "I resent that."

_I'm going to move this to a private folder so that the person that I have monitoring the profile doesn't see it. I have a feeling that they would have an opinion on everything we said. They're probably sleeping right now, anyway. Good thing I was able to get on and do this._

_Maybe when all of this is over we can meet face-to-face. And maybe we'll drag Hiro along just to work him up a little. :P_

_I'll talk to you later._

_~Karmi_

Hiro logged out and closed his laptop, setting it onto his desk. That was...a lot to deal with. Just add it onto the pile with everything else. But it was comforting to know that both Karmi and Megan thought about him that way. It was just a shame that he had to find out about Megan now and not before her impromptu induction into their inner circle.

But as he hit the lights to go to bed, there was one thing that he was absolutely certain about.

"If those two ever meet in real life...I would _never_ hear the end of it."

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:** You are correct, Genius Boy. You _would_ never hear the end of it. Which is why I'm dying for it to happen in the show. And if it doesn't...I might just have to take matters into my own hands.

You know, provided that Megan is actually going to stick around past the end of the season.

At the point in time that this will be going up, I have not seen "Fred the Fugitive" yet. I _have_ heard about a few things that happen in the episode, but I won't mention them here. Already giving me ideas to write about, which is a good thing. Wonder what will crop up in my head at the most inopportune time.

Read and review, if you like. Until next time, everyone.


	4. No Escape

_**Disclaimer:** Big Hero 6 is owned and operated by Disney Animation. Basemax is owned and operated by Big Hero 6._

* * *

_**Chapter 4 – No Escape** _

The emergency morning meeting of Big Hero 6 was coming to a conclusion. The Cock-a-Noodle-Doo breakfast burgers had been thoroughly vanquished (mostly by Fred), and a good amount of the actual meeting was spent warning Fred about choking himself (mostly by Go Go). But all joking aside, and even with the possible tension with the police reaching new heights, they decided that the best way to spend the morning was to work on their secret base.

Or...let Roddy Blair work on it while trying to reel Fred in.

"I'm just saying! We have a tank over there; why can't we just extend it into a lazy river?"

Wasabi shook his head. "Fred, get the idea of a lazy river out of your mind. The ocean is literally right outside; go swim in that."

"Yeah, but there's not any _ambiance_ out there! Plus, the police could spot me and try to arrest me again."

"Boys." Go Go stepped in between them, hands up on their shoulders. "Stop arguing in front of the hired help."

"Nah, I love this!" Roddy shouted out from his mountain of blueprints. "You would not believe the arguments I saw Boss Awesome have. They were mostly with me...but it was still exciting!"

Fred peered at him, his attention diverted away from Wasabi. "But was it ever about lazy rivers?"

"Nope. Mostly wardrobes and grappling hooks and what-not."

"...I'm listening."

Hiro shook his head from his seat at the conference, taking a sip from his drink. It was too early in the morning for this. Well, it was too early in the morning for _anything_ , but it wasn't like his night was better either.

He had put on a brave face for Fred and what he had gone through with the police and Chief Cruz, but inside he was all over the place. He hadn't gotten a lot of sleep that night, mostly because he kept thinking about how close he was to getting found out. How close everyone was. They had escaped with their identities intact again, but it was by the thinnest of margins.

He had given his friends the slimmest of details when he had gotten back to the mainland. He hadn't mentioned anything that Chief Cruz had said to him about his father. It felt like a secret he had to keep; sharing it with everyone would just be in poor taste.

And he didn't _dare_ say anything about what the elder Cruz had said about Megan liking him. He wasn't sure if his brain would be able to-

"Hiro, back me up here!"

He pulled his head up to see everyone staring at him. "Um...sorry, Fred. I wasn't paying attention."

"Ugh! Come on!" Fred waved his arms over his head. "I guess I'll just start at the beginning." He opened his mouth to go again only for a hand to clap over it.

"Freddie," Honey Lemon said gingerly, "I think we're all getting a little tired. Even Baymax is getting close to low on power."

" _Mangos!"_

"Or...he's there now."

"Yeah, we've been here all morning." Wasabi let out a yawn. "I think we should try to head back home and maybe take a nap for a bit."

Roddy swept up all of his plans in one motion. "Yeah, you're working me overtime, and it's not even the end of the week! I'll have to get back to you on the giant vending machine next time I'm here. In the meantime, let me show you lot the security measures set up for the front entrance."

"Please don't tell me you listened to Fred and put in lasers and chainsaws."

"Nah, little lady. Lasers are expensive. I went with a more...ergonomic route."

"That doesn't sound suspicious at all." Go Go got up from her seat. "I'm in. Wasabi, you coming with us?"

Her ears heard the vacuum before she saw it. She turned her head to see her friend pushing one around, leaning under the table to extend its reach. "Are...you vacuuming the headquarters?"

"Um, yeah. Obviously." He bent back up, the hose in his hand. "Clearly _someone_ has to keep this place spick and span!"

"It's. A. Headquarters." Go Go crossed her arms. "It's going to get a little dirty."

"Not while I'm around."

Go Go didn't follow up with that, instead turning and walking to the doorway. "I'm going to go see these new gadgets that Roddy's on about. Coming, Fred?"

"Absolutely!"

Fred practically bound to the door, quickly followed by Honey Lemon with a sheepish grin. "Coming, Hiro?"

He shook his head. "Nah, I'm fine."

Seeing her knowing nod made him feel a little better. Honey Lemon always seemed to know when to say something to him and when to let him be. Too bad living with her for a year didn't instill the same thing in Go Go.

Hiro was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't hear the vacuum cut out. The plastic cup was lifted off the table and instantly put back down on a coaster appearing out of nowhere.

"Since when do we have coasters?" Hiro asked absentmindedly, noting the big red number six on it.

"Since some people decided to use the conference table as a fast food counter."

He took another sip in response. Wasabi chuckled and put the vacuum back up in its standing position. "So...you want to talk about what's bugging you?"

"Huh? Nothing's bugging me."

"Hiro." Wasabi wheeled the vacuum into the nearest cubbyhole, the automatic door swooshing shut. "I may not have Honey Lemon's sixth sense about feelings, or Go Go's...creepy way of knowing everything, but I can tell when something's up."

Hiro stared at him. It was true that he and Wasabi didn't interact on a one-to-one basis as much as Go Go, Honey Lemon, or even Fred. Heck, for the longest time, he thought that the Applied Physics major was purposefully ignoring him. But that changed when Granville teamed them up for the space debris project. Through the twists and turns of their working styles, he had gotten to know him a little better.

Or at least enough to know that he was very obsessive when it came to cleanliness.

But he was still his friend nevertheless. So what the heck? Everyone else knew about his problems. Why not him?

"Chief Cruz mentioned something to me when we were both in Muirahara Woods."

"About Big Hero 6?"

"Well, yes. He did say a lot about that. He mentioned a few other things as well. And one of them was about...Megan."

Wasabi sat down in his chair.

"Chief Cruz had mentioned that she...likes me. And when I asked him about it, he wouldn't say anything else about it. It just makes me confused."

"Hiro, that's a part of growing up. You get older, and people are going to start paying attention to you in ways that you aren't used to."

"Nah, that's not really what's bothering me. Or...entirely."

Wasabi leaned back his chair as Hiro continued his train of thought. "I just don't need that on top of everything else right now. Being hunted down by the police, not talking to Karmi, schoolwork piling up-"

"Wait. Back up one bullet point. What about Karmi?"

Hiro drummed his fingers on the table. "She's been busy with a bunch of stuff, so I haven't been able to talk to her for about...three weeks now? No video chat, not even any messages. And I know it makes me seem like a little lost puppy dog, but talking to her, even if it was for a little bit, made me happier. And I haven't had that for a while."

"I don't understand," Wasabi said. "What does that have to do with Megan?"

"Because of what Cruz told to me. The more I hang out with her, the more I feel like I'm..."

The silence hung in the air too long for Hiro's liking. If he had looked up at that particular moment, he would have seen Wasabi staring at him with a concerned look on his face.

"Cheating on Karmi?"

Hiro nodded slightly. "Sounds like the stupidest thing you've ever heard, right?"

"No. We're friends with Fred. We hear him say stupid things every day. This doesn't come close."

Wasabi leaned forward a little bit in his chair. "Hiro, this is going to sound mean, and I don't want it to come off that way. But...you know you're allowed to talk to more than one girl at once, right?"

Hiro slouched down even more. "I do. I talk to Go Go and Honey Lemon all the time."

"To be fair, they're not really girls. They're women."

They went back to being quiet, Hiro tapping the cup onto the coaster. Wasabi took the opportunity to pull a handkerchief out of his pocket and started to polish the table.

"Do you like her?"

"Megan?" He threw his arms out. "I don't know. She's nice to hang out with. But ever since we fought Sirque, she's been acting different. I don't know how to explain it. It's like she spent all of her time on Big Hero 6 and finding out who we are, and now that she's done that...I guess normal me isn't that exciting to be around."

Wasabi was now thoroughly confused. "But you just said Chief Cruz said she likes you."

"Does she though? Or does she like knowing that I'm a part of Big Hero 6?"

"That's a fair question. You could just ask her."

"Oh yeah." Hiro crossed his arms. "That sounds like a _great_ idea."

He heard Wasabi put more pressure into his swipes, no doubt getting the last remaining smudges out of the table. Maybe this wasn't such a great idea. He should have just kept his mouth shut.

"Do you like Karmi?"

He wasn't expecting that. Or maybe he should have. Either way, he looked away, his blush creeping up again.

"See, I ask you about one of them and you give me a pretty good explanation of things. I ask about the other one...and nothing. That pretty much sums things up." Wasabi leaned back to admire the sheen of the table. "But Hiro, you don't have to have anything figured out now. You and Karmi will be OK. I'm sure she's thinking about you right now."

"Yeah," Hiro mumbled. "Thinking about something to throw at me, no doubt."

Wasabi chuckled as he got up from his chair. Hiro watched him walk over to his armor case, perhaps wanting to get a head start on cleaning that as well.

His eyes wandered off to the corner, the column tank of water rippling lazily inside.

"How do you do it?"

Wasabi stopped, turning his head back toward him. "Do what?"

"Do what you do...with Aspen."

He tucked his handkerchief back into his pocket. He clearly wasn't expecting her to be brought up; the look on his face made that clear.

"How do you two handle not being around each other?"

"Hiro..."

It had only been a couple months prior that the team had found themselves entrenched in the happenings of Fathom Blue Incorporated, overseen by Captain Matthews, who turned out to be a not-so caring "father". His daughter, Aspen, was right in the middle of it, having been experimented on by him for much of her life. In the end, Big Hero 6 was able to save the day, rescue Aspen from the clutches of her captives, and even gained a new water-controlling ally to boot.

And in the case of Wasabi, gain something a little bit more than an ally. Someone that he had grown to care for a lot. Someone who he enjoyed getting to know...

Someone who now took up the habit of buying new DVDs and putting them in the wrong alphabetical spot.

Of course, Aspen had only told Hiro that. And he wasn't looking to tell Wasabi any time soon.

Wasabi sighed. "Hiro, I don't even know what we have right now. She's just trying to get her life back together, and I'm helping her as best I can. If it means I talk to her on the phone while she's traveling around, I'll do that. If it means I sit down with her for a meal while she makes fun of us for losing to all of the girls in bowling..."

Hiro smirked.

"I'll do that too. I'm not going to lie to you. It's _really_ weird having someone in your life like that when you went twenty-one years without it. But...every time I talk to her, I try to take a little something from it. And I build on that. You probably do the same thing with Karmi. Do that with Megan. Who knows where it'll go?"

"But-"

"Hiro. You are _fourteen_. Stop trying to figure out girls. You'll never do it. No one will."

He had to laugh at that. And so did Wasabi.

"When all of this is over and Cruz is done with his hunt for us, you'll have time to think about both Karmi _and_ Megan. From what you've told me about Megan and from what I've seen, she seems like a good person. And we all know how you feel about Karmi. You're lucky, Hiro. When I was your age, I didn't have _any_ friends." Wasabi stared at the armor in its case. "I was the weird kid with the weird hair and the weird obsession with cleanliness. And while I'm pretty much still that same person, everyone sees me and accepts me for that. Even Aspen."

He turned back around to face him. "Hiro, you'll figure things out. It just might take a while. But all you need to do is just...be there for them. That's all they need."

Hiro nodded to himself, taking all of the words in. "Yeah. You're right. Thanks, Wasabi."

"Don't mention it."

The boy genius rubbed his temple. He could already feel the onset of a headache. "I just can't escape it. The worry. The overthinking. No matter what I do, it's always just there."

"That's where getting an actual good amount of sleep helps. And I'm sure Baymax would tell you that..." Wasabi glanced over at the robot, whose head was turning the entirety of the way around on its own. "If he was working properly."

The entrance to the conference room whooshed open, and the smell of singed hair wafted inside.

"Ergonomic lasers are still lasers, Fred!"

"To be fair, I didn't know what that word meant."

The three walked inside, Go Go's hair looking a little worse for wear. Wasabi recoiled back from them. "Everything OK, Go Go?"

"No. Clearly not." The Korean patted the top of her head. "Remind me to get Roddy to remove half of the defenses outside."

"Where is he now?" Hiro asked.

"He left. Said something about having another gig." Honey Lemon stared as a smoke plume rose up from Go Go's hair. "Although I think he just wanted to get away from Go Go."

She growled as she tapped a few button on the doorpad. "I'm going home. I have to fix my hair...and take a very long nap. Are we done here?"

Hiro pushed his chair in. "Yeah, I'm ready to go home. Now I'm hungry again. Maybe we can stop by Joe's and get some fries."

"Now you're speaking my language, Hiro!" Fred yelled, rubbing his hands together. "Onward! To the Wasabimobile!"

"No matter how many times you say it, it won't stick, Fred!" Wasabi yelled after him, but he was already gone.

The rest of the team made their way out the door. Go Go was the last to hit the door, still smoking (mentally and literally) about the traps. But a moment later, she realized that there was one person missing.

"Wasabi?"

She turned back toward the room to see him wistfully looking at his surroundings. Confused, she raised her voice. "Wasabi!"

"Huh?"

"You coming or what?"

Wasabi's eyes continued to take everything in as he reached into his pocket. "You know what? I think I'm going to stay here for a bit. Work on a few things. You guys can go ahead."

He pulled out his keys and tossed them to a bewildered Go Go, who caught them in her open palm. She twirled them around her finger and smirked at him. "You're letting _me_ drive your car?"

"No," he said simply. "I'm giving you the keys to give to Honey Lemon so that _she_ can drive my car. I know better than to let you drive."

"Yeah, I'm _totally_ going to give her the keys." She walked out of the door and around the corner, yelling back at him. "This is me giving the keys to her so that she can drive home."

"If there's a scratch on my car when I get back, I'll know!" was the response.

Too late. She was already gone.

Wasabi walked back to the center of the room. It always seemed to surprise him that this was his life now. Instead of school and worrying about graduating, he was a superhero flying around the city and fighting crime. But he had learned to live with it by now.

The school was second nature to him. So was the superheroing.

But the girl that was now on his mind? _That_ was still new. But that was part of the reason he decided to stay behind.

"Basemax?"

_"Wasabi recognized."_ The main screen lit up to show the eyes of the computer.

"Can you connect to my phone remotely?"

" _I can. Please place your device on the conference table."  
_

Wasabi did so, and several data points connected to the cell, the top of the table brimming with the new data.

"Call Aspen Matthews."

" _Calling Aspen Matthews..."_

He turned to the screen as the call connected. Aspen's profile picture came up as well. It was her holding a bowling ball in front of her, the cerulean of the ball diminished by the blue in her eyes as she stared down the lane, her tongue slightly sticking out as she concentrated on hitting the pins.

Of course, she hadn't noticed him take the picture at the time. It wasn't until they got back to his apartment and she had looked through his phone to relive the night that she saw the photo. She had a good laugh at it...and then she took a picture of him in the shower as revenge.

Good thing no one would ever see _that_ picture.

" _Hello there, Mr. Wasabi."_

Wasabi had failed to notice that the call had gone through, but what he _had_ noticed was that the girl was laying on a beach somewhere, judging by the sand, blue sky, and sun shining in the background.

Spoiler warning. That's _also_ not what he noticed first.

"Aspen, what are you wearing?"

" _What? This?"_ She pulled up the thin strap off of her shoulder. _"It's called a bathing suit. It's a wonderful invention that people wear when they want to go swimming at the beach. You should try it sometime."_

"I know. You bought me one, remember? But mine's not as…revealing as yours."

Aspen smiled as she panned the camera down the beach chair to the rest of her body. It was true that she wasn't leaving much to the imagination; the black high-cut shorts and dark blue low-cut bikini top were proof of that. Not that he really minded.

" _Where are you calling me from? Did you redo your apartment or something?"  
_

Wasabi was jolted back into reality by her question. "Oh. We have a secret base now."

" _Wait, hold up!"_ Aspen leaned into the phone, her eyes widened. _"When were you going to tell me this?"_

"I don't know. It all came together rather suddenly. We needed a base to hide out because we're fugitives now."

" _I heard about all of that. Cruz, right?"_ She frowned. _"That must be rough. You guys have done so much for San Fransokyo, and he makes you guys into enemies just like that? Do you know why?"  
_

"Not yet, but we'll figure it out."

" _If anyone can, you guys can."_

Wasabi clicked a few buttons on the center console, and Aspen's interest was immediately piqued. _"So secret base, huh? Have any cool things in it like a juice bar or sushi buffet?"  
_

He laughed. "You've been listening to Fred, haven't you?"

" _Hey, those are things I would want to have."_

Wasabi extended the camera so that she could see more of the inside. "This is just the conference room. The plan is to outfit this place with everything we need so that we don't have to go anywhere else. Communications, our spare costumes, the works. Meeting at Fred's is just too problematic at this point."

" _That sounds amazing, but I have a question."_ She pointed to something behind him. _"What's up with that tank in the back? Building an aquarium for relaxation purposes?"_

Wasabi looked at the column of water. "No. That's for...something else."

" _Oh?"_

"It's for you."

Aspen stared at him. It was one of the few times that she didn't have a clever retort ready for him.

"I was thinking...and I haven't brought this up with anyone but Hiro yet, but..." Wasabi turned back around to her. "If things go south, and we can't do our job because we're arrested or jailed or something worse, all of the villains that we've been fighting are going to come out of the woodwork. If there's no one to stop them, then they'll take over the city. We need someone to be able to protect San Fransokyo. And...if that means recruiting other people to take our place, then that's what we need to do."

Aspen blinked once. _"Wasabi, are you saying what I think you're saying?_

Wasabi pressed a final button on the console. "Basemax, are you ready?"

" _Ready for voice authorization."_

"Aspen, can you say your name into the phone for me?"

" _O...K."_ She put her mouth to the mic. _"Aspen Matthews."  
_

The base A.I. glowed for a minute, and then responded. _"Recognized. Designation BH6-07. Welcome, Aspen Matthews."  
_

Her eyes grew to the size of saucers. _"Wait, hold on. Does this mean..."_

"Yeah, it does." Wasabi smiled as Aspen's profile showed up on the screen. "This means you're officially a member of Big Hero 6 now. And you even have your own entrance from the ocean so that you don't have to come through the front door. That's what that is for (pointing to the tube of water). We're working on hollowing out a place for the sub underneath. We just have to not dig too much to ensure the structural integrity of the-"

Loud sniffling overtook his explanation. He looked up to see Aspen's eyes starting to water. "Are you OK?"

She wiped her tears away and laughed. _"I'm sorry. I'm just...most girls want their guys to give them diamonds or expensive clothes. You got me into the most exclusive club in San Fransokyo. I'm honored."  
_

"I even got you a chair and everything." One of the hovering chairs came over to his side, the symbol from her necklace etched into the back. "You know, for important meetings and all that."

" _A chair? That's awesome! I get to sit at the big boy table now!"  
_

Wasabi lightly pushed the chair away and returned to the keyboard. "Now we just need to get one made for Peni. She's been busy with getting ready for school, though. Maybe I'll have Hiro call her."

" _Who in the world is Peni?"_

"Oh yeah. You weren't here for that." Wasabi pushed a file upward to her phone. "Do you remember a few weeks ago when there were two giant monsters fighting in the city?"

" _Totally! It was like a movie! I'm jealous I wasn't there for that!"  
_

Wasabi stared at her.

" _I mean...'Go, team!'?"_

He rolled his eyes, smirking slightly. "Anyway, she helped us in that battle. She's Hiro's genius cousin."

" _Hold on,"_ Aspen interrupted. _"There's **more** of them?"  
_

"I know, right? Apparently it runs in the family. But she'll be eight and S.P.I.D.E.R. will be nine."

" _Which number are you?"  
_

Wasabi peeked into the system. "Hiro put me as six."

" _Awww, we're right next to each other. How quaint."  
_

He closed the program and stepped away. "I should let you go. I have to make sure that my car is still intact. And let you get back to...your work."

" _You mean my tan?"_ Aspen laughed as she laid back. _"I know what it looks like, but I've been running around so much between London and the Pacific Coast for the past few weeks talking to every single executive under the sun. I just needed to take a day for myself."_

"What _are_ you working on, anyway? When I asked you at Karmi's going-away party, you were all secretive about it."

Aspen looked down, and Wasabi thought he had said the wrong thing. "I mean, you don't have to tell me. I was just curious."

" _I want to tell you. And I will eventually."_ She looked away for a split second. _"But I don't want to give anyone the details, get everyone excited, and then nothing comes out of it."_

"Fair enough." Wasabi plucked his phone off of the table. "I guess I'll talk to you later."

" _Wasabi, wait."  
_

He stopped with his finger over the red button and looked up at the screen. Aspen had placed her phone in front of her as she laid down in her chair, probably balancing it in a spot that made Wasabi blush just by thinking about it. And she knew it too, if the wide grin on her face was any indication.

" _Thank you for making me a part of the team. I promise I'll do the best I can."  
_

"I know you will."

" _It's funny."_ Aspen's eyes pierced through his, even through the screen. _"We hadn't talked in a while. I kind of thought you had gotten tired of me. Or just forgot about me."  
_

Wasabi stayed silent for a second. He still wasn't really good at expressing his feelings, especially with someone who wore them on her sleeve every day. His were sewn underneath his skin. But that didn't mean a little bit couldn't bleed out every now and again.

"I could never forget you, Aspen."

The marine biologist let out a small chuckle.

"You wouldn't let me."

Now it was a full-blown laugh.

"I can't escape you."

Wasabi's finger ran on the outer edge of the phone.

"And I don't want to."

" _...Did you get that out of a fortune cookie or something?"  
_

"No!" Wasabi responded. "I'm trying to tell you how I feel. I know I...don't do it often enough."

Aspen shook her head, her phone jiggling around accordingly. "Well, I appreciate it. It was very thoughtful of you. I'll have to give you a big ol' hug next time I'm there."

"You give me a big hug _every_ time you're here."

" _Well, it will be biggerer than all of the ones before."  
_

The two shared a second of silence before Aspen moved her phone up to her face. _"I'll let you go rescue your car. Thank you for calling me. I'll talk to you later."_

"OK. Bye, Aspen."

She put her hand over her face, blowing a kiss to him before ending the call.

Wasabi felt the blush go on his cheeks. Yup, still wasn't used to all of this. And in normal circumstances, he would run and hide from all of this. But as she put Basemax on standby and headed out, he was quite sure about one thing.

He wasn't going to try to escape any more.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** For those of you who have read **Fathom** , you'll know Aspen to be a very smart, capable, and completely overbearing presence. I kind of wanted to reel that back a little bit with this, because now she's sharing that spotlight with Doreen. Also, having your entire life thrown upside down tends to change your outlook a little bit.

Hiro and Wasabi don't get enough one-on-one. Hiro gets a lot of it with the others, but not with him. I'm still very miffed that Wasabi still hasn't gotten a lot of the character development that people like Go Go and Fred have. Maybe "Fear Not" will change that. Who knows?

For the people that are wondering who Peni is, and why she's now in the fold, you should go read **Along Came The S.P.I.D.E.R.** , which will hopefully answer some of your questions. I will attempt to get that story finished soon, because I don't want to go into the finale without that being done.

Read and review, if you like. Until next time, everyone.


	5. Major Revelation

_**Disclaimer:** Big Hero 6 is owned by Disney Animation. Joe's Diner is, I assume, owned by someone named Joe. Or Joey. Or Joseph. Or Josephine. Or-_

* * *

_**Chapter 5 – Major Revelation** _

Sometimes, it was like trying to teach a child how to walk for the first time.

Other times, it was like potty training a Bernese Mountain Dog.

Or maybe a poodle.

"Hey!"

You know what? We can come to an agreement on the breed of dog later.

Right now the only thing that Go Go was worried about was getting Fred back on track.

"You said you'd start paying attention now!"

"I am! Sort of."

Go Go and Fred were back in the simulation room, also known as Simmax, working on what Fred had called a "do-over" on the villain fighting. So being one part bored, two parts intrigued, and all parts wondering if Fred had really changed his stripes, the Korean decided to jump into a training session yet again.

Normally, she would be all for not going and doing anything strenuous on an off-day, but she was curious as to what Fred's mindset was. After all, they had spent the better part of a few days fighting someone who they thought was a new supervillain in town, only to discover that it was really Fred's mom, Mrs. Frederickson.

Laughs were had and bonds were strengthened, but when the next day came around, Fred was back at the hideout at the crack of dawn, messing around with Simmax.

Want to know how Go Go knew that?

Because Go Go was _also_ at the base at the crack of dawn.

Normally, the only reason why she'd be up that early would be for her courier job, but there was a decision to be made on who was going to clean up Simmax after their battle with Major Blast, and Go Go drew the short straw. So, just to get it over with, she made her way over there to start at sunrise.

Only to find someone else there.

And now here we are.

They had been going at it for about two hours at a variety of different digital locales. Fred seemed to be fixated for some reason on Night Market Square, so that's where most of their sparring was happening.

But it was almost like his mind was in a different place, even though he had been making steady progress in his training. Every once in a while, he would just space out. It wasn't even like he was going off on a tangent about dumb comic books or stupid werevampires and-

Whoops. Sorry. I channeled Go Go a little bit there.

"Fred! Focus!"

"I am!"

"No! You're not!"

Go Go heaved the disc at him, and Fred effortlessly dodged it, but she could tell something was still on his mind.

"Are you still thinking about Major Blast being your mom?"

"Not even remotely!" Fred landed on a fake tree and waved his arms. "I totally wasn't thinking about that until you said that exact thing."

"Ugh." Go Go caught her disc and heaved her alternate one on her back. On command, it widened into its travel form, slamming into Fred's gut and sending him careening into the ground.

"I don't remember that...hurting as much as before."

The Korean sighed as she retrieved all of her weapons. "Fred. Something's still up. I can tell."

"Yeah, the throbbing ache in my stomach is what's up."

Go Go raised her eyebrow at the pile of Fred on the ground. "Talk to me, Fred. I don't have time for this."

He pulled up the head of his costume with a sigh. "It's nothing. I'm just thinking about stuff. That's all."

She pursed her lips and bent down to his level. "Why don't we take a break? We've been at it for a while, and I'm starving anyway. Haven't had any breakfast."

All of a sudden, Fred's demeanor changed back to his excitable and goofy self. "Now you're speaking my language! Onward, to Joe's Diner!"

* * *

_Dramatic cut to Joe's Diner..._

OK, he was definitely acting weird.

Like...weirder than normal.

Go Go glanced up from her omelet to see something that she never thought would happen: Fred opposite the booth from her, chomping away at his pancakes.

With a knife and fork.

He was using _cutlery_.

"Fred."

"Hmm?"

"...You're scaring me."

"What? What am I doing?"

Go Go pointed at him with her spoon. "You're eating food like a civilized being and not like a rabid wolverine. Did you get replaced by an evil twin or something?"

"Nah. Trust me, I asked my mom whether I had an evil twin a few years ago. Unfortunately, I don't."

"And you were disappointed?"

" _Obviously_."

She let him take another bite of pancakes before speaking up again. "Fred, what's wrong?"

"I said nothing."

"Well, I don't believe you." Go Go took a sip of her water. "And as a card-carrying member of the Bad Liars Club, I can also tell when someone's not being truthful."

Fred sighed and finally put down his fork. She didn't quite understand why he was in this sort of mood; everything from yesterday seemed to have been wrapped up nicely.

"I can't believe that my mom was a supervillain."

Go Go recoiled slightly. "Fred, she did it for a good reason. She was inspiring your dad to be better. Just like she was doing for you."

"I know. It's just..." He looked out the window at the cars passing by. "My dad was the greatest superhero of all time. And my mom was a pretty kick-butt villain. It makes me wonder whether I'm worthy enough to keep doing this."

"Fred."

He looked up at her concerned face.

"Have you completely forgotten everything that's happened to us over the past year? We've saved the city multiple times, we've taken down _two_ corrupt corporations, and helped countless people. And you were a part of all that."

Fred laughed quietly. "Yeah, I did do the smokescreen thing pretty good, didn't I?"

"You make the best smokescreens."

Now both of them were laughing as the waitress came to refill their drinks. Once she left, Go Go grabbed another piece of bacon. "You're lucky that you have your family. They at least understand and know. If I told _my_ family, they'd probably have a conniption. Heck, even if I told them I was hanging out with Robbie, they'd probably want to lock me in my room like a little girl for the rest of my life."

She expected some sort of witty comment about Robbie and his dark magic tendencies, but she was again treated to silence. She looked up to see him staring at his plate.

Well, at least the pancakes were gone. But the look of worry was not.

"Oh, come on." Go Go poked his arm with the handle of her fork, jolting him out of his thoughts. " _Now_ what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Fred, we've already established that saying the word 'nothing' doesn't work. You can't use it twice in a conversation."

He was tapping away on his phone, so she had to get his attention again. "Hey! Distractions, remember?"

Now he was avoiding looking at her. Go Go, now a little agitated, growled at him. "Fred, you can talk to me about anything. You know that, right?"

"What if it's about you?"

Fred said it so haphazardly that she almost missed it. "Huh?"

"Whoops! Bathroom!" He stood up and tried to walk by Go Go, but the errant hand came down on his forearm.

"Fred. Sit."

"But...bathroom."

"One." She held up a finger on her other hand. "You went five minutes ago. Two, I know an escape plan when I see it. Three...there's no window in the bathroom, so you can't get out that way even if you tried."

Fred slumped back down into the booth.

"You're not going to get out of this, Fred. Just talk to me."

He swirled the ice around in his drink. Go Go, in her numerous unofficial therapy sessions with everyone else, knew that letting them collect their thoughts was the best way to move forward. No point in trying to interrupt in the middle of their nerve gathering.

But it looked like, after a minute, that Fred was ready. He set his glass back down and pushed his plate to the side.

"Seeing my mom and what she did for my dad...it made me realize how special they are to each other. They've been married for a very long time. I kind of took that for granted until recently. And I want that. I want...someone like that."

Go Go just stared at him. Was she really about to have this conversation with him? She could stand talking about comic books for a while. Heck, she'd even take patrol at this point. But not-

"Girls? That's what's bothering you? _Girls_?"

"Not girls."

His eyes very quickly glanced up at her face, and then back down at the table.

"Just one girl."

Oh.

...Oh boy.

Well, _this_ was going in an unexpected direction.

Also, did someone turn the heat on in the diner?

"I didn't want to say anything, but-"

"Fred." She held up her hand to stop him. "You really don't have to continue if you don't want to."

"Well, it's a little too late for that, Go Go."

They both stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. And then, all of a sudden...Go Go started giggling.

"Huh?"

She couldn't help it. Her fork fell to her plate as her laughs started getting more pronounced.

"Are you laughing at me?"

"No!" she squeaked out, clutching her sides.

"You are!" Now he was getting angry. "I knew that-"

"No no no." Go Go was finally able to get some words out, wiping the tears away from her eyes. "I'm really not. Not at you. Just...the ridiculousness of this." She fanned her face to try to cool it down. "I thought I knew a lot about everyone, but I didn't know _this_."

Fred turned his head away, his own cheeks flaring.

"Now I have to know. When did it happen?"

His voice lowered to a whisper. "You remember when you almost ran into me on that bike of yours and I fell onto HL's chemistry table?"

"That was my first day at school!" Go Go said. "It's been that long?"

"Like you said, it's pretty ridiculous."

She shook her head at him, her hand on her forehead. "Fred, you are a piece of work. And I mean that in the nicest way possible."

"What? You rode in on your Chariot of Awesomeness-"

"That better not be trademarked," Go Go mumbled.

"And I was staring at you like how Captain Fancy meets Laura Lance for the first time in the reboot of _Captain Fancy #1_ and I was going to say something to you but you were too busy raiding Wasabi's toolbox-"

"Fred."

"And then I told myself I was going to say something to you at lunch but-"

"Fred!"

Her hand slapped down in front of him, cutting Fred off. He looked up to see Go Go staring at him again.

"I literally don't remember any of this."

"Oh." He twiddled his thumbs in front of him, now even more embarrassed. "Can I ask you to not remember this? Or...unremember it?"

"No."

Fred groaned and leaned back into the bench, now looking straight up. Go Go continued to look at him. This was a side of Fred she had never seen before. There was something...awkwardly adorable about it. But she had to ask one last thing.

"Fred, those feelings you had. They never went away, did they?"

He pulled his beanie over his face, still not looking at her.

Go Go's eyebrow went up. Yup, that answered her question. She put her finger on her forehead and leaned into the table, giggling a little bit.

This whole thing was absurd. This was _not_ the conversation she was planning on having with Fred today. She was expecting something stupid, like dramatic entrances and catchphrases and whatever Fred's animated mind could think of. Not this.

But she knew what she had to do now.

"Fred, scoot over."

His head snapped back down. "Huh?"

"Scoot over."

He moved his body towards the aisle.

"Nope. The other way, dummy."

He went back to her left as she got up, slotting into the seat next to him. Once there, she let the silence hang for a bit before making sure Fred wasn't trying to crawl under the table. He was still there, but leaning into the window as much as he could.

"I'm not going to bite you, Fred."

He inched a tiny bit closer.

"Good enough."

Go Go tapped her finger on the table as she talked to his shoulder. "Fred, I hate to be the one to be the bearer of bad news...but I've never thought about you that way. I'm sorry."

"I know you don't," Fred said quietly.

She smirked at his hand on the window ledge. "OK. Then why are you upset?"

"...Because I'm jealous."

"What?" That wasn't the answer she was expecting. "Of me?"

"Of you. Of everyone." Fred turned his gaze away from outside, but still not at her. "I mean, you guys have found people who are super awesome and caring and compliment you guys. I don't have that."

"And you don't think you'll _ever_ find that?"

The sniff from his nose gave away the answer.

"...Freddie."

Her teammate finally looked at her, resting his chin on his hand. It wasn't every day that she gave him the Freddie name. Or any day, really.

"Robbie and I are still figuring things out. Sure, he's a cool guy, and I _do_ like him, but it's not like we're going to magically figure things out in a day. Wasabi and Aspen have more progress than us two, but she's got her own problems to figure out." She turned her head to make sure no one could hear her. "Not to mention the whole half-human thing."

"And what about Hiro?"

"Hiro and Karmi?" Go Go reached out to grab her glass. "Those two are so disgustingly in love with each other that even thinking about them is going to make me vomit up this omelet I just ate."

Fred laughed for the first time in a while.

"My point is that not everyone finds that special someone instantly. You have all the time in the world. You may be older than all of us, but there's not a cutoff to this sort of thing."

He sighed sadly, still not entirely convinced. But a sudden movement out of the corner of his eye brought his attention back to the table. Go Go was moving his unused spoon over, landing right next to his fork.

"One day, and I'm not going to tell you when because I can't," Go Go said, "You're going to find someone who's going to see past your superhero obsessiveness and your comic book collections and your...almost overwhelming amount of energy..."

Fred leered at her, but she was quick to follow up on that part.

" _And..._ they're going to see you for who you really are."

The fork and spoon softly clanked into each other.

"A kind...strong...loyal guy who would do anything for his friends and his family. And they're going to see _that_...and they're going to want to spend the rest of their life with you."

"You really think so?" Fred mumbled.

"I _know_ so."

Go Go felt his arm come down over her shoulder, but she didn't bother moving it. She would let him have it this one time. Besides, it felt...nice.

Not that she would tell him that.

"I also know that I'm not that girl. Face it, Fred; we can barely stand each other on a _good_ day. Imagine that amplified by a thousand-fold. We'd murder each other before the end of the year."

Fred laughed at her statement. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

The two sat together for a couple of minutes, Fred still looking out the window and Go Go listening to the diner music. His arm was still laying on her, and his fingers were tapping on her forearm. It was always weird for her to realize no matter what sort of superhero shenanigans that the team had, there were also real normal problems to deal with. And Fred wasn't exempt from them either.

"Hey, Go Go?"

"Yeah?"

His blue eyes were finally looking back at her, a little twinkle in them. "Thanks."

"For what?" she asked.

"For telling me the truth."

Go Go smiled and patted his elbow. "I'm _always_ going to tell you the truth, Knucklehead. Like right now..."

"Yeah?"

She took a deep breath in through her nose. "You were sitting in a suit for two hours training with me. And you _don't_ smell good."

Another laugh out of Fred. "Oh yeah. I forgot."

"Let's tell Roddy that the next thing that he needs to install at the base is showers." Go Go gingerly grabbed his arm and brought it over her head. "C'mon. Let's get out of here."

After paying (which Go Go did, even after Fred's insistence he pay), the two walked out of the diner, heading off down the street. Since it was a weekend, the others would probably be waking up right now. But Go Go was only focused on doing one thing.

"I am _so_ going to take a nap when I get back home."

"And you should shower too," Fred added. "You smell like Garbage Man."

"...That's a terrible sounding supervillain."

"Hey." Fred waved his hand dramatically. "Not every single comic that AJ Dohertz drew for was an instant classic."

Go Go let out a small chuckle. "I'll take your word for it."

They stopped at the corner, the little red man on the monitor telling them to wait. The two stood there as the cars whooshed by, no doubt heading off to their urgent destinations.

"I meant what I said earlier, Fred."

She looked up at him to see him already staring back at her.

"You can come talk to me about anything. Even if that thing is me. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, I do."

Fred saw that she had her fist hanging out at the ready, and he smiled, knowing what that meant. Instinctively, he pulled his own fist out and bumped it into hers. Once hit, they separated, wiggling their fingers out as they drew their arms out.

"Ba-la-la-la-la-la-la."

Go Go turned to walk away, a smile on her face. "I'll see you at the base tonight for patrol?"

"You betcha!" Fred took a step onto the crosswalk, back in his excited mode. "You won't get any distractions from me. No sir-"

"Fred!"

A hand came forward and grabbed him by the collar, yanking him back onto the sidewalk. A split second later, the truck whizzed by, running through the red light.

Go Go and Fred blinked together. They were now standing very close to each other, her hand still grasping his shirt. She had been the one with the forethought to look back at him before leaving fully, and thankfully she saw the truck careening at her teammate. Said teammate's head was, of course, in the clouds as always, and thus action was needed.

The Korean let out a heavy sigh, smoothing out Fred's shirt before making her way down the street again. "Seriously, Fred...where would you be without me?"

Fred looked over his shoulder, the vehicle long gone, and then back at her retreating body.

"Umm…splattered on some guy's windshield?"

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:** The Fred/Go Go ship is one that's always sort of intrigued me. Clearly the two have a lot of interaction with each other, and I suppose it's just as possible as any of the other teammate ships that people out there have. But I just don't see it going anywhere.

Now, having said that...it's nice to have a little bit of fun with it.

Let's face it: Fred and Go Go are complete polar opposites, and people like to say that opposites attract. That's true...but we're talking about the North Pole and South Pole here. Opposites, sure. But they're so far apart that it doesn't even matter.

But they _are_ friends still, and I hope I was able to showcase that a little bit here.

Some of you, if you've read my earlier stories, may know the person that does have an eye for him. We won't go into that right now, but I can say that I may have a future one-shot/story on someone _else_ that Fred falls for...and it's not a member of the team.

Or even a hero, for that matter.

Read and review, if you like. Until next time, everyone.


	6. For I Am With You

_**Disclaimer:** Big Hero 6 is owned by Disney Animation. The chapter title is also a clothing brand. Please don't sue me, Frasers Group._

* * *

_**Chapter 6 – For I Am With You** _

"I told you, I got over my fear."

"No. You _sort of_ did. But that's why we're here."

"Is there a reason why we have to do it here?"

Wasabi waved his hand around the room, gesturing to the two girls sitting on the couch in front of him.

"At my apartment?"

"Well, for one...Honey Lemon hasn't seen it yet." Go Go pointed to her companion, who sheepishly grinned. "Two, we figured that since we've tried every other place to work on your fear of public speaking, we'd try one that's a little more comfortable for you."

"And I really like your apartment, Wasabi." Honey Lemon's eyes wandered around, reaching his media shelf, his coffee table, and a few of the paintings on the wall. "It's very...you."

"I appreciate that, but flattery will get you nowhere."

"Wasabi." Go Go got up from the couch and pulled on his arm, almost throwing him in front of the TV. "Stand there."

"OK."

"We will be your class. A class of just two. No Fred, no Hiro, no Baymax or Mini-Max. Just us." She returned to her seat and crossed her arms. "You've always been more comfortable around us, anyway."

Wasabi nervously gulped.

"Or at least Honey Lemon. Including me in that might be a bit of a stretch."

Even though it wasn't several pairs of eyes, two were more than enough to give him some pause. "I don't know about this."

"Let's do this, then." Honey Lemon put a finger in the air. "Why don't you just talk about whatever is on your mind? Not quantum optics or schoolwork or anything like that. Just...talk. And we'll listen."

"Can I do it sitting down?"

"If that will make you more comfortable, yes."

Wasabi slowly crept over to the armchair while Go Go stared at him. He sat down in a huff, his arms resting on the edge of the seat.

"You don't have to look so excited about this, Wasabi."

"She's being rhetorical," Honey Lemon cut in. "Don't answer that. Just talk about whatever you want."

He put his leg over his knee, feigning interest in something behind Go Go's head. Unfortunately, he couldn't get three seconds into the silence before the Korean intervened.

"Yeah, time for me to bring in the secret weapon."

"Huh?"

Go Go vaulted up and started to walk to the door. "I had a feeling you were going to be hesitant about this subject, so I got a hold of someone that's going to _force_ you to open up."

Wasabi reeled back as her hand went onto the knob. "Oh no, please don't tell me-"

All of a sudden, she bent back from the door and shrugged in his direction, laughing. "No! I didn't call Aspen! What do you think I am, some sort of maniac?"

"Maybe a little maniac," he muttered.

"Well, I couldn't get a hold of her, anyway." She resumed her position on the couch. "But I also figured that her presence probably wouldn't really help you that much. At least not right now."

Honey Lemon stared at her roommate. "You didn't really call her, did you?"

"Hey! This isn't my intervention! This is-"

She noticed that her classmate was trying to tiptoe away into the kitchen, and quickly reached out to grab his arm. "You're not getting out of this, Wasabi."

He grunted and slumped back into the chair.

"Wasabi," Honey Lemon said gently. "Would it be helpful if we talked first? Because I have the perfect thing that we can all talk about."

"And that is?"

"...Fear."

He went quiet as Honey Lemon settled into the couch. "I'm afraid of what's going to happen to us if Chief Cruz finds out who we are. I'm afraid for Hiro, and Fred, and Baymax, and both of you. I'm afraid for myself. I'm afraid for the city and what will happen to it if we're not here to protect it."

The three all looked down, thinking hard about everything she had said.

"Also hippos. Don't forget the hippos."

The Latina glared at Go Go.

"What? I'll give you that; hippos are pretty scary."

"If we're going in that route, what's so scary about leprechauns?" Wasabi asked.

"What's _not_ scary about leprechauns?" Go Go yelled. "They're small and hairy and abnormally green and walk around with that creepy little laugh and never _really_ lead you to pots of gold but only to holes in the ground and-"

She suddenly saw that her two friends were staring at her with worried looks on their faces. She also hadn't realized she had stood up in her animated diatribe. She slammed her butt back down on the cushion. "But I mean, other than that they're nothing to worry about."

"Remind me never to take you out anywhere for St. Patrick's Day."

"You're assuming I actually _go_ anywhere for St. Patrick's Day."

Wasabi looked at Honey Lemon, who just nodded. "Yeah, she stayed in her bed that day and just muttered about four-leaf clovers and Lucky Charms. It was very odd." Moving that tangent to the side, she turned back to Go Go. "What else, Go Go?"

She looked up and to the right, trying to access her memory banks. "Most of what you said already."

Honey Lemon smirked at her. "Say it out loud, Go Go."

She sighed loudly. She wasn't going to get out of this one. "I'm scared for all of us. I'm scared for all of the people we've met over the past few months."

"You mean Robbie?"

Go Go narrowed her eyes at Honey Lemon. "When did this turn into my interrogation?"

She only smiled in response as she turned her body to Wasabi. "OK. Your turn."

"And just keep in mind we don't have all day. I have things to do this after-OW!"

Wasabi smiled as Honey Lemon's arm smacked into Go Go's shoulder. Any time that the Korean was put in her place was a fun experience. But enough stalling. He had thought about it long enough.

"I'm afraid of a lot of things." He began counting off on his fingers. "Heights, germs, ball pits, rainstorms, bad-"

"Wasabi." Go Go rolled her index finger sideways at him. "I have all of those itemized already. Get on with it."

He sighed as he leaned back. "I guess what I'm afraid most of all...is just being afraid."

The two girls shared a concerned look at each other, but didn't interrupt.

"My whole life has just been adding new fears on to me at every single major point. When I got into grade school, when I moved here, when I got into SFIT, when we started being superheroes. It's exhausting. I just want to be able to relax and have fun and enjoy things like you guys do."

The room fell quiet, the only sound going into their ears was the clock up on the mantle. It was a very long moment before one of the girls spoke up.

"Wasabi, it's OK to be afraid of things."

Honey Lemon set her hand on his.

"That makes you human. And you're more human than all of us, if you really think about it."

Go Go set her head on her hand, elbow on the arm of the couch.

"There's no need to be ashamed of it. You know it, you've worked on it. You've gotten through this hard part. Now you just have to learn from it and use that on your next fear."

"So I can take Mini-Max and have him go up ladders for me?"

"No." Now it was Go Go's turn to cut in, but her smirk let him know she was joking. "You can't use Mini-Max to solve all of your problems. You're a strong guy, Wasabi. You've had all of these fears in your life, and yet you still hang in there with us. I think that makes you a pretty cool person. Definitely cooler than Fred."

Wasabi grinned. "Thanks. That means a lot."

"And at least you aren't afraid of commitment."

"Hmm?"

Go Go's eyes went over to the DVD shelves, where there were several blue sticky notes strewn all along the wall. A few had smiley faces on them, a couple had angry faces, and then one had some sort of winky face scrawled on it. Clearly _someone_ was signifying their favorite media in case they stopped by.

"You don't let _me_ touch your movies. I'm just sayin'."

Wasabi slowly shook her head at her, not responding.

"I have an idea," Honey Lemon said. "Why don't you invite Aspen to graduation? I'm sure she would love to be there when you get your degree."

"I don't know. She's been so busy with stuff lately. I don't want to bother her."

"Wasabi, you know she would drop everything to come."

He looked away from the two, staring at one of the sticky notes.

"Tell you what. Go Go will call Robbie and ask him to come, and if she does, you have to call Aspen."

Go Go's head whirled around to face Honey Lemon, looking incredulous. "What? Don't pull me into this."

"What's the matter, Go Go?" Now the corners of her mouth were curling into something far more sinister than just a normal smile. "Scared?"

The Korean pursed her lips as she tapped her screen, bringing the cell up to her ear. "You are an evil person." She stepped away to take her call, leaving the other two alone.

"Are you sure that she's actually going to do it?" Wasabi asked. "She might try to get out of it."

"Nope...because I already sent a text to Robbie earlier saying to expect a call from her."

"Wow." He was impressed. "And I thought Go Go was the one who was omnipotent."

" _Why are you whispering?"_

The two turned to see Go Go fumble with her phone, clearly forgetting to take Robbie off of speaker. She glared over her shoulder to shoot Honey Lemon another dirty look.

"She's going to be mad at you later."

Honey Lemon shrugged her shoulders. "She'll get over it. She always does when it comes to him."

A minute later, Go Go came back over, a slight redness on her cheeks. She sat back down, but it was as far away from Honey Lemon as possible.

"So. Is he coming?"

"...He's coming," she mumbled.

"Hooray! Now it's your turn."

Having no choice, he pressed her name in his phone. The same symptoms from when he was trying to speak in front of that class were coming back. He almost wanted to stop the call entirely…

"Don't be scared, Wasabi."

But Honey Lemon was right there, her hand now on his shoulder.

"We're all with you."

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:** It only took two seasons, but Wasabi _finally_ got an episode to himself. It wasn't a perfect one by any stretch. However, we finally saw something arise out of the depths of Wasabi's personality. Granted, it was something that we've known for a while (his fears of literally everything), but it was still a nice episode to watch.

Now, if only he could take what he learned and apply it to anything else. Like girls.

Or maybe just one girl.

This is one of those times where it pays off to watch the next episode after watching this one. "Legacies" gave me a plot point about graduation that I used here. And it paid off, luckily for Wasabi...and maybe unluckily for Go Go.

Kind of a short chapter this time, but I promise I'll make that up with the finale of **Continuity, Th** **e Third,** which will be out next week. It was a very special and heartfelt episode, so I feel like we're going to have to pull the stops out for this last chapter. Thus...we're going to get everyone involved.

And when I say everyone, I mean _everyone_.

If you've followed me for any amount of time, and you've seen the last two minutes of "Legacies", you already know where I'm going with this. :P

Read and review, if you like. Until next time, everyone.


	7. Character (Finale)

**_Disclaimer:_ ** _Big Hero 6 is owned by Disney Animation._

**_Disclaimer #2:_ ** _I hope you brought tissues, because it's going to be a very emotional one below._

* * *

_**Chapter 7 – Character (Finale)** _

Inside the giant conference room, there was quiet.

Silence.

Darkness.

But just as quickly, the lights began to flicker on.

Systems started booting up.

And the two eyes of Basemax lit up the main screen.

" _Recognized. BH6-01, Hiro Hamada."  
_

The far door whooshed open, and one by one, the victorious team of Big Hero 6 filed into the secret base. Hiro, Baymax, Go Go, Honey Lemon, Fred, and Wasabi. They were all dragging their feet as they made their way to their chairs around the conference table.

Hiro slowly took off his helmet and set it on the table, rubbing his face. Baymax's eyes were flashing, signifying his low battery power. Wasabi's head went down, barely able to keep it up. Both of the girls were yawning and stretching their arms. Even Fred, usually annoying everyone with boundless energy, was struggling to come up with anything to break the monotony.

The team had won their battle against Trina, and in turn with the police, who now saw them as the good guys and not fugitives. They had exposed their identities to Chief Cruz after saving Megan from the clutches of Obake's daughter. They had stopped her from continuing Obake's plan to destroy the city with the thermal reactors. And even with the help of the Buddy Guardians fixing the city (their programming overridden by copies of Tadashi's healthcare chip), they had spent the better part of the night overseeing that process.

And now they were done.

In more ways than one.

"I want to sleep forever."

"You can't, Hiro," Go Go removed her own helmet, shaking her bangs out of her face. "It's my turn to do that. I call dibs."

Honey Lemon slapped her glasses on, her hair a mess. "I'm so tired. I'm going to sleep like a baby tonight."

"So will I...as long as we have a pile of earplugs back at the apartment."

" _Greetings, friends!"  
_

Mini-Max flew into the room, somehow still filled up with battery power. He stopped on the end of the table, jolting Wasabi out of his slumber. _"We are victorious against evil-doers everywhere! We should celebrate our justice brigade with a justice parade!"_

"Or I'll take a grenade, and shove it in your-"

"Go Go!" Fred shouted, slapping his hands on the table. "Whatever word you're about to say, it doesn't rhyme with 'parade'!"

Wasabi had both of his gauntlets off, wringing his wrists. "Yeah... _that's_ what you have a problem with."

Roddy chose that opportunity to walk into the room. He was clapping his hands together as he looked over the group. "Alright, guys! I got MegaMax parked and deactivated in the spot you requested. Is there anything else you need from me?"

"No. We're good." Hiro turned his head so that his cheek was flat against the table. "Thanks, Roddy. For everything."

"Not a problem, kiddo. I tell you what..." The mechanic walked over to him, putting a hand on his head. "You kids sure are something else. Saving the city more times than I can count. The old man would be so proud of you if he knew everything you've done."

He didn't respond, but he smiled anyway. Roddy tossed the keys to MegaMax onto the counter and headed over to the door. "I'm out! Let me know what you want to do with the basketball court next week!"

As he left, Go Go shot a glare at Fred, who saw it and immediately brought his arms up in defense. "Hey, we need the relaxation. Don't blame me."

"If you thought about it, you could just have him put massage chairs in here."

"Oh wow, that's an even better idea." Fred turned his head to shout at Roddy...

" _Recognized."_

The group looked at each other, confused.

" _BH6-07."  
_

Wasabi's eyes widened as the large tube of water near the back started swirling inside, letting them know that something was arriving from the ocean.

" _Aspen Matthews."_

Or in this case...someone. _  
_

A body came shooting up from the bottom, almost colliding with the ceiling of the tube. Said body was wearing the clothes that she had been gifted from the team when she left long ago: her blue, long-sleeved jacket zipped up to her neck, her white scarf flowing from beneath the hood over her head. Her black leggings looked slightly metallic on first glance, as well as the knee-high boots on her feet. As the water drained out, the glow in her eyes dimmed down until they returned to her bright blue color, the medallion on her necklace landing right above her chest.

She didn't even wait for all of the water to exit; the door flew open and cascaded a fair amount of seawater onto the floor. However, that looked like the farthest thing from her mind, judging from her almost frantic look.

"Wasabi."

Hiro watched as his classmate got up from his chair to greet her, but he barely got one step forward before Aspen leapt onto him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Drops of water went flying all over the table and the others, but the sight of their friend more than made up for that.

"Just know..." Aspen whispered, her head nuzzled into Wasabi's neck. "Just know that I'm not hugging just Wasabi because I don't care about anyone else. It's because I only have two arms. I will be getting to everyone momentarily."

The boy genius laughed as he sat up in his seat. "Hey, Aspen."

The marine biologist's hood fell off, exposing her bluish-black hair. Still clinging to Wasabi, she glanced at everyone else. "Are you guys OK? I was going to surprise everyone by getting here early for your graduation and I saw the thermal coils above the city and I...I was so worried about you."

"We're fine. Just tired, really." Honey Lemon stifled another yawn.

She finally unhinged her arms from around Wasabi's neck, walking over to Fred and giving him a hug. "Before I got here, there were a bunch of fires near the waterfront. I think some of those robot remains combusted from their engines overexerting. Nobody was injured, though."

"Really?" Hiro turned to Basemax, who brought up a city map. "There weren't any alerts when we were doing clean-up earlier."

"Well..." Aspen poked the tips of her pointer fingers together, looking down and blushing. "I may have...helped put out a few of the fires."

Go Go smirked at her. "May?"

"Yeah, a bunch of waves came from the ocean and doused all of the flames. Must've been some meteorological anomaly. So weird, right?"

Honey Lemon took the hug from her, getting the jist of it. "Thanks for the save, Aspen."

"No problem. I figured it was the least I could do, since it looked like you guys were busy."

"Wait, you saw us? And you don't have to-"

Aspen hugged her anyway, cutting the Korean off. "Only Baymax flying, but I figured the rest of you were close by."

"I probably wouldn't have remembered seeing you even if we had crossed paths," Hiro muttered. "I don't even know what time it is. Everything's just a blur at this point."

He felt her hand on his cheek as she caressed her head into her chest. He had to admit it felt really nice; hopefully he wouldn't notice his blush.

"You guys are amazing. I don't know how you do it. Disaster after disaster, you always seem to come through. I don't care that the police think you're criminals; I know that you're the best friends anyone could ask for."

" _We are no longer criminals, according to Chief Cruz,"_ Baymax said. _"We have been redeemed in his optical sensors."_

" _Yes, for we are the ones that stare in the face of evil and say 'Not today!'"_ Mini-Max added, a triumphant fist in the air. _"Or any day! Your villainy will be rescheduled permanently!"_

"That's good, Baymax. And..." Aspen looked over the robot perched on Baymax's shoulder. "Smaller...Baymax."

"Well, I know what you're really here for!" Somehow Fred had found some energy again as he poked the table with a claw. "Something you've always wanted!"

"Fred, I'm hurt." Aspen covered her heart with her hand. "You think I would come all this way just because of some trivial thing instead of my friends' well-being? What on Earth could it _Oh my God I have a chair!"_

Aspen's seat had hovered to right behind her, throwing her off of her train of thought. She grabbed it with both hands and clung to it tightly. "This is amazing! It's so...chair-y."

"Your behavior is becoming un-chair-able."

"Go Go, did you just make a pun?" Fred wiped a fake tear away, sniffling. "You've grown up so fast."

"Oh, shut it."

In the five seconds for that aside to take place, Aspen was already rotating in her chair on her knees, her smile not wavering. Hiro couldn't help but copy her expression. After everything that had happened, it was nice to break the seriousness with some silliness.

"Alright, I'm going to call my first order of business as an official member of this team."

"Aspen, that's not really how this works..."

She held a hand in the air, not waiting for the rest of Honey Lemon's direction. "One. The tube that leads into the base isn't marked. So, someone may have swam up the tube directly next to it, going to a dead end and staring in a hole in the wall that they _thought_ was the retinal scanner. You should do something about that. Like...paint it or something."

"We'll get right on that," Hiro smirked. "Just as I sleep for about twenty hours."

"Oh yeah, I'm probably keeping you guys. We can figure all of that out after the graduation tomorrow!" Aspen stood up from her chair. "Let's all go get some shut-eye. Wasabi, where's your car parked at so I can call shotgun?"

The other five glanced at each other, having completely forgotten what had transpired earlier in the night.

"What? What'd I say?"

" _Wasabi's motor vehicle is currently underwater."  
_

Aspen creaked her head around to Wasabi. "Huh?"

"Yeah..." He scratched the back of his head. "It was a whole thing. Long story short, we drove to this sinking cargo boat and it was a trap, and the police sort of threw it into the bay." Trying to break the awkward silence that was radiating from her, he quickly pointed in her direction. "But hey! Before we leave to go to SFIT, you think you can get it out for me?"

She stared at him.

"You know, because you have the...powers."

Some more.

"...Please?"

Go Go took in a breath through her teeth. "Oh boy. I am _so_ glad I'm here for this."

"Hey! I'm trying to ask nicely here. I know that-"

"Wasabi."

He turned to see Aspen right next to him. Somehow she had traversed the few steps over to him silently, so much so that Hiro hadn't even noticed. But that was the least of what his brain was thinking about.

"Sweetie."

The girl put a hand on his still armored chest.

"You...do think of me as more than just 'that girl with the powers', right?"

Even Baymax was slowly staring to back away toward the door.

"Because I would hate to think you thought otherwise."

"No, of...of course I don't think that!" Wasabi stammered. "You're the greatest, Aspen. I'm glad that you were able to come early. We can even go get food later, if you want."

The air pressure suddenly returned to its normal density, and the girl's smile came back. "OK!"

Fred's coughing fit sure sounded like she said the word "Whipped!" underneath her breath.

"And I'll get your car tomorrow."

"You will?"

"Yes. I will. Promise."

Wasabi sighed, relieved.

"But..." Aspen slowly traced his heart with her finger, her voice lowering to a seductive level. "You have to make it up to me tonight."

"Ooookayyy. On _that_ note, I'm calling a Driver XL." Go Go pulled her phone out, shaking her head in amusement. "Everyone get changed. We got a long day ahead tomorrow."

* * *

Some people's day was longer than others.

Hiro had woken up in the middle of the night several times, going over his speech again and again. He knew it was good, and he knew that it would make everyone proud, but that didn't stop him from reading every single word until he could almost recite it from heart.

Even now, as he was sitting in his chair nervously, the words on the paper were still on his mind, as if it wasn't sitting in the pocket of his shirt. All of his friends were sitting next to him in their caps and gowns (sans Fred), and Aunt Cass was on the very end, already starting to tear up. He didn't know where everyone else was, but he couldn't think about that right now.

Professor Granville was up at the podium, having just handed off the last degree to the appropriate student. She nodded to her fellow teachers and stepped forward, tapping the microphone slightly.

"Congratulations to all of our graduates. Your hard work and dedication will not be forgotten, and we all are excited to see what you will achieve in the future."

There was a fair amount of clapping, including from the gang. But his hands were shaking so bad that he couldn't join in.

Because he knew what was coming next.

"Before the school year started," Granville started, her hand gripping the podium, "We at SFIT lost a tremendously talented and wonderful student. One that may of you knew personally, and it is a loss that is still felt to this day. I of course...am speaking of Tadashi Hamada."

Hiro stared into the ground.

"He was strong. Loyal to his friends. Charming, intelligent, kind. All of the qualities that not only make someone a great scholar, but also a great person."

He almost had her words memorized as well. Granville had shown him the speech that she was planning on saying, just so that they wouldn't overlap anything. It was a nice gesture, but that didn't make his brain feel any better.

"I never had the pleasure of knowing Tadashi personally, but one does not have to know him directly to know the kind of impact he had on us. He made us better teachers. He made us better people. And it is a reminder..."

Hiro finally looked up. He saw Granville let out a breath and wipe a tear away.

"It is a harsh reminder that life can be cruel. Tadashi's life was cut far too short. He still had so much to offer this world. So as my final advice to you, graduates, I will tell you this."

The dean's eyes looked directly to his left, undoubtedly at his aunt.

"Appreciate and strengthen the personal connections you have molded in your years here. Do not be afraid to fall back on them. Sometimes all we need is someone to listen to us, to guide us, to show us the way. The world is an ever-changing place, but the one thing that will never change...are the people that will stick by you through anything."

The clapping crescendo as she finished. Hiro halfheartedly did so as well, fully aware of Wasabi's hand rubbing his back.

Granville pulled another roll of parchment out from underneath her platform. "The San Fransokyo Institute of Technology has previously honored Tadashi Hamada with the opening of the Tadashi Hamada Hall, the same hall that we stand in front of now. On this day, we bestow upon him an honorary degree in Robotics Engineering, so that he may graduate alongside his fellow classmates."

Hiro leaned up in his chair. It was almost time. Wasabi patted his back and put his hand back into his lap.

"And here to accept on his behalf, and also to say a few words, is Tadashi's younger brother. Ladies and gentlemen...Mr. Hiro Hamada."

He was surprisingly calm as he got up from his chair, staring straight ahead as he made his way up to the stage amongst the cheering. He took the few steps up to the platform and walked to Granville, who stepped back slightly and nodded to him.

"The floor is yours, Mr. Hamada."

Granville took her seat with the other teachers as Hiro walked to the podium, pulling his speech out of his pocket. He didn't want to test to see if he _did_ have his speech memorized. Having it out would give his hands something to do.

It became abundantly clear that everyone's attention was now on him. That was to be expected, with the speech and all. He just hadn't realized how nervous he would actually be.

"Uh...hello."

His index finger accidentally touched the microphone, causing some slight reverb. Pushing his uneasiness aside, he found his space on the paper.

"My name is Hiro Hamada."

He looked back at the giant portrait of his brother and motioning to it.

"Uh...Tadashi Hamada was my brother. And I'm...here to accept his degree on his behalf."

Great. She had already said that. Off to a good start.

Hiro looked down at his paper. Hopefully, the words he wrote would make up for that beginning. "I used to think that having a legacy just meant that people remembered you."

He couldn't help but look back up at the crowd. Right in the front were his friends, all staring up at him. Aunt Cass's eyes were drenched with tears, but she wiped them away and smiled at her nephew.

"But now, I realize it's more than that."

Honey Lemon put a hand on Fred's shoulder, her eyes threatening to leak as well.

"It's when the things that are important to you live on in the people who loved you. And what was...most important to my big brother was helping others."

His eyes drifted over to the set of bleachers, the ones that housed the graduates' families. In the very top row in the middle were his three newest friends. The girl in the middle was crying her eyes out, an impressive amount of tissues piling high on her short blue dress. The guy to her right was continuously handing new ones off to her, the white stripe in his hair seemingly shining even brighter in the sun. The girl on her left was staring straight at him, the toothy grin calming his nerves a bit.

Aspen, Robbie, and Doreen. Collectively, the weirdest group of people he had ever met. But now...they had joined the pantheon of his friends. It felt like he had known everyone all of their lives.

He saw Doreen bring her hand down on the seat to her left. It was empty, and it was almost like she was leaving it for someone...

Hiro's eyes blinked rapidly. No, now wasn't the time to be thinking about her. He wouldn't be able to get through the rest of his speech if he let his brain continue that train of thought. Mentally pushing it to the back of his mind, he went on, his voice almost cracking.

"He believed that there's good in this world and that it's...worth fighting for."

He thought of Chief Cruz. Of Megan. Of Globby. Of everyone that had helped them during their tenure as superheroes.

"And he knew that everyone was capable of being someone's hero."

He thought of the fire that claimed his brother's life.

"And the last words Tadashi said to me were...'Someone has to help'."

Hiro took another glance at the giant portrait behind him. If he was here, Tadashi would probably make fun of him for being so dramatic. It made him feel a bit better in that regard.

"Even though he's gone, Tadashi is still helping me _every day_."

The corners of his mouth turned up.

"Tadashi wants us all to help. And I'm...going to try. And...uh..." He shrugged his arms forward, gesturing to the crowd. "I hope you'll join me. Thank you."

The crowd stood up and started cheering as Hiro took the degree from Granville's outstretched hand. Overcome with emotion, he hugged her around the waist for a brief moment, which she reciprocated.

Hiro took the steps down, holding the degree high above his head. But waiting for him in the middle of the procession was the one person that he hadn't seen yet. The one that started this whole adventure.

And the one that he had been wanting to hug ever since he got up on stage.

" _Hiro..."_

Baymax was standing right there, staring at him with open eyes. Granted, they were _always_ open, but it didn't make the moment any less sentimental.

" _That was an excellent tribute."  
_

It turned out that he wasn't done with the hugging.

Hiro took two steps and wrapped his arms around his friend as the rest of the class cheered, throwing their hats in the air in celebration.

* * *

He thought that had been it. That the speech was going to be the end of his day, for better or for worse.

Turns out that it was just the beginning.

Hiro was now with his aunt, walking among the congregation of graduates and their family members. Many of them (all of which Hiro had never interacted with in his brief time at SFIT) had wandered up to his aunt, shaking her hand and offering their congratulations and condolences. Unlike the funeral a year ago, the exchanges this year were much more animated and celebratory. Aunt Cass took everything in stride though, grasping their hands and grinning at them.

"Hiro!"

The voice was deafening even among the crowd, and as it parted like the Red Sea, the duo of the marine biologist and the wildlife volunteer came barreling up to him, bringing the boy genius into their arms. On any other day, it would have been too much. But now, Hiro needed it more than ever.

"You were so great up there, Hiro." Doreen's cheek was smushed right up against his own, Aspen's on the other side. "Congratulations."

"Thanks." Their proximity was causing his whole body to heat up.

"You wanna leave some of the ladies for the rest of us, Hiro?" Robbie walked up next, stuffing a spare tissue pack in his jacket. "You're getting all of the attention-OW!"

The cause of his pain was made immediately clear as Go Go stepped out from behind him, her knuckles a little bit redder. "Leave him alone, Robbie."

"But this is how I deal with sad situations." He snaked an arm around the Korean's shoulders. "Through bad humor and a standoff-ish attitude."

"Yes. I know."

The rest of the group followed behind them, and Aunt Cass was quick to ensnare them all in a giant hug. "I am _so_ proud of you guys. So much has happened in the past year, and I don't know..." She wiped her face in Wasabi's chest. "I don't know if I would have been able to get through it if it hadn't been for you. So, thank you. From the bottom of my heart."

"You're very welcome, Aunt Cass," Honey Lemon whispered. "That's exactly what we were going to say about you."

"Aww, you're too kind. I just run a little cafe and try to raise a rambunctious fourteen-year-old. I do what I can. But today's not about me." She unlatched herself from the gang and put her hand on Hiro's head. "Today's about you guys! And Hiro, of course." She ruffled up his hair a little bit. "You did such a great job, sweetie."

"Yeah, it was very moving," Robbie added. "The girls were crying next to me the entire time."

"Oh, come on." Go Go hipchecked him lightly, smiling. " _You_ were crying, too. I saw it."

"No, I wasn't! I was just in Aspen's splash zone..."

"Quite a group you have here, Mr. Hamada."

Granville, still in her robes, took the opportunity to walk up to them, taking in everyone in the small crowd. "I imagine that the car ride home is going to be interesting."

"Don't worry about that, Professor G!" Fred said. "I have already called shotgun."

"Mr. Frederickson, I am aware of the rules, and I do not believe anyone's car is in sight. So your ploy to take the front seat will have to wait." Smirking, she turned her attention to Aunt Cass, taking her hand and shaking it. "Thank you for being here, Ms. Hamada. I know it must be very difficult on a day like today, but I can see where Mr. Hamada gets all of his tenacity from."

"Thank you so much, Grace."

The dean looked over the rest of the group. "Ms. Tanaka, Ms. Rodriguez, Mr. Calloway. It had been an honor and a privilege to teach each and every one of you. Whatever you need in the future I will be more than willing to provide. A recommendation, information, anything at all. Please do not hesitate to ask...although I am certain I will be seeing you around soon enough."

"I'm sure we'll take you up on that offer, Professor," Wasabi said.

Granville spied the blue-haired girl next to him. "Ms. Matthews, I hope that everything is going well for you. How is that secret project coming along?"

"Still a secret," Aspen grinned. "Still a project. That's about as much as I can say."

"Fair enough." She next turned to Doreen. "It is lovely to see you out and about, Ms. Green. I was beginning to wonder if you ever left your place of employment."

"Wait." Hiro pointed over his shoulder with his thumb. "How do you know Doreen?"

"I have visited the Yggdrasil Urban Wildlife Refuge many a time, both as a patron and a member of this institute." Granville nodded to the girl. "It is funded exclusively on charitable donations, which SFIT has provided many over the years. How _are_ your squirrels doing these days, Ms. Green?"

"Just released two back into the wild this week." She blew on her fingers in a mock showing of superiority. "Don't want to brag, but that's the fifteenth one this month. I feel like I'm going to repopulate San Fransokyo all by myself."

"And I'm sure the ecosystem will be very appreciative of you."

Granville eyed the last new member, who nervously recoiled from her. "Um...hello."

"Now, I do not believe that we have met." She glanced up at the boy's hair. "But judging by your...expressive hairstyle, I am going to take a wild guess and assume that you are an acquaintance of Ms. Tanaka's."

"I am." He glanced down at an evilly-grinning Go Go. "An acquaintance. Of hers."

"Hey, you actually pronounced it right this time."

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, in any regard," Granville said, shaking his hand. "Now, I must be off. I need to fulfill my quota of embarrassing students, and I am nearly there. Thank you very much again, everyone. Have a wonderful rest of your evening."

The dean took two steps away from them, and suddenly stopped.

"Oh. And Mr. Reyes..."

Robbie did a double take at her.

"Do tell your grandfather that I should be visiting his shop at some point next week. I'll need to restock on tulips for my garden."

The smirk didn't waver as Granville walked off, leaving Robbie in a state of mass confusion and surprise. "I...thought she said she's never met me."

"That doesn't mean she doesn't know _of_ you. But I wouldn't worry too much about that," Honey Lemon said, watching her disappear in the crowd. "She has a weird way of knowing a lot of information about people."

"So like Go Go, then?"

"Guilty as charged."

" _Hiro."_ Baymax raised a finger as he towered over everyone else. _"You have not eaten in ten hours and fifteen minutes. An unbalanced eating schedule can lead to problems with your digestion."_

Honey Lemon looked at her phone. "Oh yeah! I've completely forgotten the time. We should probably get going."

"There is only one place that everyone will be going."

Everyone turned to Aunt Cass.

"And that will be to the cafe. We're going to have a celebratory spaghetti dinner, and I'm not going to take no for an answer from any of you."

"Yay! Free food!" Fred dashed off, already in the process of probably calling shotgun.

"Well, you guys have fun." Robbie smoothed out his jacket as he zipped it up. "I gotta get back home. I have to work early in the morning, so-"

"I don't think you understand, Robbie."

Aunt Cass was right up in his face, the smile still genuine, but the glare in her eyes hinting at bodily harm.

"You are included in the everyone."

"Oh." He slicked back his hair, his cheeks going a little pink. "Well, in that case, I _suppose_ I could stay."

"Very good." Aunt Cass grabbed his arm and started to lead him away. "Plus, I have so many questions about you and Go Go. Where did you two meet? How long have you known each other? Is that real leather?"

Go Go's head was in her hand, her face now starting to go crimson. Hiro couldn't help but laugh. "Shoe's on the other foot, isn't it?"

The Korean glared at him, not responding.

* * *

" _That was a very eloquent speech you had today, Hiro. I thought it would be appropriate to call and congratulate you."  
_

"I appreciate that. I was very nervous."

_"I suppose I would have been as well. I do not speak well in front of others."  
_

Hiro hit the landing of the second floor, the phone held out in front of him. On the screen was a girl with the same messy black hair as his, but the spider hairclip was on the left side of her head as always. It was a little longer than what he had seen the last time they spoke, which probably contributed to it being even more unkempt than his.

"Peni, you're in school now. You're going to probably be doing that a lot."

" _I am only taking one college preparation class now, and its population is small. I will not be going to proper classes until the fall."_ Peni tapped the pencil on her desk.

"Nervous?"

_"A bit. But my friends have been supportive."_

"You'll have to introduce me to these new friends of yours at some point," Hiro said to his cousin. "They sound like good people."

_"They are, but they are also very much a handful."_

Hiro heard laughter coming from downstairs, and a sudden exclamation from one of the girls that he couldn't decipher. "I should probably let you go. Dinner's going to be ready in a little bit."

" _Yes, it is late for me. Aunt May will be coming up any moment to tell me to go to sleep._ "Peni glanced at the door over her shoulder. _"Did you receive the second batch of candy that she sent you?"_

"Yes, and I hid it somewhere where Aunt Cass can't find it."

" _Aunt May did say her sister was never any good at hide-and-seek. Some things must not change into adulthood."_

Hiro was just about to hit the red button on his phone when Peni spoke up again.

" _Hiro..."_

"Hmm?"

She nervously looked away for a second.

" _Tadashi would have been very proud of you. I know that may not seem much coming from someone like myself, but...I wanted to tell you that."_

Hiro's eyes started to water. "Thanks, Peni. That does mean a lot."

A sudden vibration came through his phone. It was probably someone downstairs texting him, telling him that dinner was ready. "I have to go. I'll talk to you later. Good night, Peni."

_"Have a good night, Hiro."_

He ended the call and immediately brought up his Messages. It turned out it wasn't from anyone downstairs…

_OK, I have to make this quick. My dad went out for a food run._

It was from the girl being imprisoned in her own home.

_I still can't believe after everything that happened, Dad still grounded me. No internet, and no phone! For two WEEKS! What am I suppose to do, just lie here and do nothing?_

Hiro chuckled as Megan's words continued to pile in. He had hoped that Chief Cruz would go a little easy on her after the events of that night, but it appeared that even he had underestimated his stubbornness.

His thumbs flew across the keyboard. _I think that's the intention, yes._

_Ugh. Don't take his side._

He took the next step, going down to the bottom floor. No doubt someone would be sending a search part if he was any later.

_OMG he's already back! Anyway, I saw your speech. They broadcast it on the school website. You were SOOO good! I know it's a touchy subject, but if anyone could have done it, it would have been you._

Hiro smiled back, but he didn't even get a chance to respond before the next message came in.

_OK for real he's coming in! I don't want to get grounded for anything else! I'll see if Dad can drive me to Joe's one day and we can have lunch or something. GTG Bye!_

He had turned around on Megan. At the beginning, it seemed like she was trying to change Hiro into something he wasn't. But now that they had gotten to know each other, it turned out that wasn't the case. Megan was just a girl looking for a friend...and she ended up getting so much more than that.

Hiro's eyes wandered down to the message below hers...and his foot stopped halfway down to the next step.

He had sent her a message almost two weeks ago, telling her that he was going to be speaking at graduation and wondering if she was going to come. That message still had the word "Delivered" underneath it, but there was no indication she had read it. She knew from the very last time they spoke that her grandparents' Internet was getting worse, and she had warned him that there may be a period of time where they wouldn't be able to talk. It made him wonder even more how she was able to log onto her fanfiction profile all those weeks ago.

It was almost a month to the day when he last saw her face. What he would give to see it again, especially today…

Hiro sighed, tucking the phone into his pocket. He had to get himself ready for being in front of people again. It wouldn't look good for everyone to see he had been crying.

As soon as he walked into the sales floor of the Cafe, he could tell he had already missed a lot. The entire gang, plus Aspen, Robbie, and Doreen, were huddled around the makeshift dinner table, plates and cutlery in front of them. Aunt Cass was probably putting finishing touches on dinner.

But everyone's focus was not on him. It was on someone's drink.

"But what _are_ they, though?"

"Aspen, it's boba tea." Honey Lemon pointed to the balls of tapioca in the bottom of the container. "You can eat the spheres on the bottom."

"I've _never_ seen this before." Aspen's eyes lit up as she tried to fish one of the balls out with her straw. "This is blowing my mind." As Hiro took his seat next to Go Go, she waved her hand out to him. "Hiro! Have you had this before?"

"I live here. I've taste-tested everything my aunt makes."

"Lucky." She had succeeded in skewering one with her straw and put it in her mouth. "This is sooo good! Can I have this every day?"

"Yeah, just what you need in your life," Go Go muttered as she sipped her water. "More sugar."

"Aspen, it's been a staple here for a while," Doreen chimed in. "Where have you been living, under a rock?"

The marine biologist dug into her pocket, searching for something. "Hold on, I'll give you an answer in a second." Finding what she was looking for, she pulled out a stray piece of paper and put it up to her face. After a moment, she lowered it to uncover her mouth. "No! I have _not_ been living under a rock!"

Hiro had recognized the paper instantly. After all, he had been the one to give it to her. Granted, a physical copy of a cheat sheet letting her know who knew their superhero secret and who didn't was probably a bad idea in retrospect, but he figured it was the best thing at the time.

"I have been living in many places around the world, and they did not have this in any of them!"

...Too bad she wasn't really selling the bit all that well.

Thankfully, she was saved by the arrival of Aunt Cass from the kitchen, who was carrying a very large lidded pot. She placed it carefully in the center of their table. "Now, this is very hot. I also maybe added some extra spicy sauce to it, so that Robbie can enjoy himself."

Robbie only stared at the food, his mouth starting to water.

"Looks like he's already enjoying himself right now," Wasabi quipped.

"Well, before we get to that..." Aunt Cass took her seat. "Honey Lemon, do you want to do the honors?"

The Latina nodded as she extended her hand out for Aunt Cass. Hiro took her other hand and motioned for Go Go to take his.

It was a tradition that they started the last time they were all together for dinner: the Latina would say Grace and everyone would bow their heads in thoughtful prayer. The caveat was that she did it entirely in Spanish, and she would say it so fast that Hiro wouldn't be able to understand it. Not that he thought she was saying anything malicious, but Urdu was complicated enough to learn. He could only imagine what it would be like for Honey Lemon to teach him Spanish.

Hiro opened one eye and slowly peeked around the table. Everyone had joined hands and was looking down at the table: Aunt Cass to his immediately left, and then Go Go, Robbie, Aspen, Wasabi, Doreen, Fred, and then Honey Lemon to his right. His extended family.

No.

His real family.

Hiro sniffed, trying to hold back his emotions. He wished Tadashi could have been sitting there along with them...

" _A_ _mén."_

Grace was done as everyone unclasped their hands. Hiro realized too late that he hadn't done a very good job at holding things in; his cheeks were stained with moisture.

"You OK, Hiro?"

And it turns out they had noticed.

He wiped his face with his forearm, not looking directly at Aunt Cass. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Go Go looked over at Fred. "Remind me that we have to get the Bad Liars' Club cards made tomorrow."

"Yup, note already made," the comic buff replied, poking at his phone.

"No, it's just..." Hiro finished wiping his eyes. "Tadashi would have enjoyed this a lot. Having everyone here and just loving every minute of it. Not having to worry about college anymore. Going out and making a difference."

You could hear a pin drop in the room as everyone stared at Hiro.

"Sorry. I just killed the mood, didn't I?"

"No, you didn't." Cass patted his back, her own eyes starting to well up again. "It's been a long day today. Tadashi would be very proud of you." She grabbed her cup with trembling fingers. "Why don't we do a toast? For Tadashi."

The rest of the group grabbed their drinks, ready to bring them up.

"Would anyone like to say a few words?"

Hiro didn't really know what else there was to say. He had gone over everything his brother was in his head. At the funereal. At his speech. His friends had exhaustively recalled what he meant to them. His teachers. Everyone. What else could there be?

"I'll do it."

The girl sitting next to him wheeled around to face him. "Robbie, you don't have to-"

"Tadashi Hamada," he continued, cutting her off. "What to say? I heard through hushed conversations and legends passed through generations that he was a man of the people. He was also a man of great accomplishments. I heard that he climbed Mount Fujitney in a day...and then when people didn't believe him, he climbed it again for the heck of it."

Honey Lemon started giggling uncontrollably. Go Go's head was shaking, but the smile was growing.

"He was also a simple man. He enjoyed the finer things in life. Getting his hands dirty. Reciting poetry in front of a crowd without getting embarrassed. Something that everyone strived to do in their lifetime."

Now everyone was laughing and smiling. The mood ten seconds ago had been somber and full of sadness. Now, it was the complete opposite. Robbie let the laughter die down back to silence, and then grinned himself.

"Nah. I don't know how much of that is true. Or if _any_ of it is true. I...I didn't know him at all. But I _felt_ like I knew him. And that's because of you guys. The way you spoke of him, Hiro, was very eloquent. And I would like to think..."

Robbie shook his head as tears were now staring to fall on his face.

"See, this is why I shouldn't be allowed to say things like this. I look like a mess."

"You're good." Go Go grabbed his hand in very un-Go Go-like manner. "Take your time."

He took a deep breath in and wiped his cheek with his thumb.

"...I would like to think that we would have been friends."

Robbie shuffled in his seat as he tapped his drink on the table. "I know what it's like to lose family. To lose someone you care about. To have someone there and then suddenly they're gone. But I know that he's looking down on you and he sees how much everyone loves him. And I hope that...I can learn about the actual Tadashi a little bit more through you guys."

He held up his glass in front of him. "To Tadashi."

Everyone else's drink clanged together in the middle.

"To Tadashi."

Doreen got up from her chair and came over to Robbie, giving him a hug. "I didn't know you were such a big softie, Hot Hands."

"I'm not." He didn't put up a fight as her arms went around his neck. "And don't call me Hot Hands."

"OK. I'm sure Go Go has a pet name for you, anyway."

"You stop this," the Korean retorted, although her smile didn't match up to her tone.

"Yeah, you're good, man." Wasabi nodded to him. "That was very well said."

"Thanks."

Fred started rubbing his hands together, his attention now back on the pot of noodles in front of him. "Now we can focus on feeding ourselves. Dig in, everyone!"

Aunt Cass's tongs came out of nowhere and slapped his hand away. "Fred, we're not savages here. I'll give everyone their food. Just be patient." She took the lid off of the pot, steam bellowing up in the air. "Now, who wants the first serving?"

Everyone's hand went up.

"OK, I feel like this went wrong immediately."

A soft knock came from the door, and Aunt Cass turned her head to see who it was. Hiro did as well, but he couldn't make out who it was. "I made it quite clear on the door that we would be closed today. I wonder who it is?" Sighing, she handed her tongs off to Honey Lemon. "Go ahead and get started, guys. I'll see who it is."

The Latina started filling up everyone's plates, and as soon as she had gotten hers, Aspen had put a big forkful in her mouth. Almost instantaneously, she waved her hand over her mouth. "Oh my goodness, this is hot!"

"Spicy hot, or 'I didn't wait long enough for it to cool down' hot?"

"Both!"

Go Go shook her head at the marine biologist and looked over at Wasabi. "You two are literally perfect for each other."

Honey Lemon, ignoring her roommate's astute observation, go to the last plate. "How much do you want, Hiro?"

Silence.

"Hiro?"

He had been lost in his own mind for the entire time. He had been busy thinking about everything that had happened over the past year. Tadashi, his friends, school.

Her.

"You OK, Hiro?"

"...I wish she was here."

He hadn't meant to say that out loud. He had meant to keep it inside, say he was fine, deal with the joke of Go Go wanting to increase the font size on the Bad Liars' business cards, and move on.

But that didn't happen.

"Hiro, I'm sure she saw your speech. It was broadcast directly on SFIT's website. There's no way she would have missed it."

"You don't know that, Wasabi."

His friend didn't have a response to that, so Doreen spoke up. "Hiro, I know you haven't spoken to her in a while, but that doesn't mean she's not thinking about you. She's...probably dreaming about you right now."

Hiro slouched down in his chair.

"And I can kidnap her still," a voice to his left said. "That's still an option."

"Aspen!"

"What? I didn't say it was the _only_ option."

He truly appreciated everyone's words, but his demeanor was now tanking once again. First, it had been his brother. But now, it was the girl that he...cared about? Had gotten to know?

Had cuddled together through the night? Had wondered when she would return?

"I wish I could see her again. Even if it's just for a second."

He heard the front door creak shut, but didn't look up.

"I miss her a lot."

Everyone at the table was silent. They probably didn't know what to say.

"I-"

"Hiro."

His name came out of Aunt Cass's mouth. It wasn't somber like he was expecting it to be. It was...excited?

"...I think you need to turn around."

The boy genius finally looked up at the faces of his friends. Every single one of them was not paying him any mind. Instead, they were staring at the door, varying levels of surprise in their eyes.

"Hiro..."

He heard a voice that was distinctly not his aunt's. And it wasn't anyone's at the table. It was-

No. It couldn't be.

Hiro finally turned around in his chair...and his heart stopped.

The girl standing next to Aunt Cass had her purse slung underneath her arm, a key in her hand. It was the spare key that was given to her by his aunt when she had stayed over. He didn't know that she had kept it after all of this time.

"Hey."

Her hair was just as shiny as it ever was, long and traveling down to her waist. The turtleneck sweater went down to her waist, the orange skirt and black leggings completing her outfit.

"That was some speech you gave today," she said, her voice shaking. "Tadashi would've liked it."

Hiro got up from his chair and slowly walked over to the new arrival. Aunt Cass backed off a few steps, already aware of what was about to happen.

It was her.

Standing in front of him.

In this plane of existence.

It was impossible. She was suppose to be overseas. But how-

"Are you going to say anything, Genius Boy? Or are you just going to stare at me all night long?"

Hiro shook his head. His mind was short-circuiting. He had to get it together.

"This isn't real," he whispered. "You can't be real." He pointed a finger at the girl. "You're a hologram or something. Baymax made you, didn't he?"

"You put Baymax upstairs to charge twenty minutes ago, Hiro," Wasabi reminded him.

"OK. Or a clone. You must be a clone."

"Oh, so _he_ can say the C-word, but I can't?"

The distinct thump of Honey Lemon's arm hitting Fred's went into his ears, but he didn't register it.

"Say something. Say something about me that only the real one would know."

The girl pinched her nose, clearly agitated. "Listen, Genius Boy. Even if I _was_ a clone, which I'm _not_ , a perfect clone would retain all of the memories and abilities of the original being. So you wouldn't be able to tell the difference if the person was doing their job correctly."

Hiro blinked.

"That good enough for you?"

That was it. He had heard enough. It _was_ her.

"...Karmi."

He lost control of himself. He took two giant steps forward, wrapped his arms around her waist, and pulled her as close to him as possible. He felt her arms squeeze his neck, the tears now starting to flow down his shoulder.

"Hiro."

He didn't care about the dinner now. Or his emotions. Or anything, really. The only thing he wanted right now was to stand there and hug the girl until he physically couldn't anymore.

Karmi was back.

And that was all that mattered.

If Hiro had turned around at that moment, he would have seen Doreen smiling uncontrollably, Honey Lemon cleaning the tears off of her glasses, and Aspen bawling yet again, rubbing her eyes into Robbie's jacket. But not even he was going to say anything at this point.

"Hey, guys," Karmi mumbled. "Sorry I'm late. I got caught up with a bunch of things. Plus, traffic was killer."

A few giggles came from the table. Aunt Cass took the opportunity to give her a half-hug, bending down to their side. "It's fine, sweetie. I'm glad that you could make it."

The two finally separated, giving Hiro an opportunity to look Karmi over again. She noticed it, though, and raised her eyebrow at him. "What? Do I look different?"

"No. Not at all. I just..."

Hiro stared directly into her eyes.

"I missed you so much."

"I missed you too," Karmi replied, her hand on his shoulder. "I...missed you guys, as well," she added, looking at the table of people. "Not to leave you guys out."

"It's fine, Karmi. We all know your boy is at the top of the totem pole."

Her cheeks flushed, and Hiro laughed at her, the first real laugh in a long time. Aunt Cass stood back up and walked over to the table. "Well, don't just stand there all night. Are you hungry?"

"I am." Karmi tucked some stray bangs behind her ear. "But...are you sure there's room for one more? I don't want to intrude on this little story of yours."

She felt his hand snake into hers, grasping it tightly. She looked up to see Hiro was looking at her with all of the emotion he could muster.

"Karmi..."

He took a step and almost didn't feel his foot connect to the ground. His heart was so very light now as he led her over to the table.

"There's always room for you."

_THE END_

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** The original plan was something very different. It was going to have Karmi stay overseas a while longer while Robbie's and the sixth member's story got played out, and then she would come back temporarily to work with Hiro on something, leading up to the giant Hiro/Karmi story that I've been planning.

But I couldn't do that.

I can't keep these two apart any longer.

This will undoubtedly complicate things a little bit, but I honestly don't care. Karmi's two second cameo at the end of "Legacies" was enough to give me hope that we're going to be seeing a lot more of her in Season 3.

And holy cow, I cannot _wait_ for that.

As always, a big thank you to everyone who commented, liked, left a kudos, or just read this set of stories. The **Continuity** series has been some of my favorite things to write, and they've also been some of my most successful stories. And that's all thanks to you. I'm sure I'll be doing something along the same lines when Season 3 comes around, but I'm not sure if it will keep the same name. We'll see.

As per usual, you're probably wondering what's going to be happening next. I may have a one-shot in the works for Hiro and Karmi, but the next big multichaptered story won't be on either of them. It'll be about our favorite biker boy, Mr. Roberto Reyes. It's about time we get him into the Big Hero 6 fold.

Let's just hope that he doesn't crash and burn before he gets there.

 **Highway to Hell** will be coming out in a couple of weeks, and I hope to join you there. In the meantime, read and review, if you like.

Until next time, everyone.


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